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CITY  CURIOUS 


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FRITILLA  AND  THE  RED  FLYING-FISH 

Frontispiece 


THE      vALH:"OK^ 

CITY  CURIOUS 


BY 


JEAN   de    BOSSCHERE 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE 

AUTHOR  AND  RETOLD 

IN  ENGLISH  BY 

F.  TENNYSON  JESSE 


NEW  YORK  :    DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

LONDON:  WILLIAM   HEINEMANN 

1920 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I 

Smaly  and  his  wife  Redy  set  forth  in  search  of  three  little  girls  : 
They  are  bewitched  so  that  their  noses  turn  into  beaks  :  Smaly 
eats  the  latch  of  a  door  and  Redy  eats  the  hinge  :  Redy's  fingers 
weep  tears  :  They  meet  with  a  Confectioner  who  resembles  a 
Kangaroo  I 

CHAPTER  II 

Smaly  installs  himself  upon  one  of  the  Kangaroo's  paws  :  The 
two  little  people  see  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  peculiar 
country  :  They  meet  some  sugar  horses,  and  they  see  also  a  fish 
which  flies  and  some  sponges  which  walk  :  The  Wigs  imagine 
that  Smaly  is  made  of  suet  :  The  ebony  and  crystal  spectacles  : 
The  Mother  of  the  Crow  15 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Short-Legged  Man  with  the  musical  voice  :  Smaly  and 
Redy  again  declare  they  are  travelling  to  find  three  little  girls  : 
Papylick  puts  Smaly  and  Redy  in  two  boats  made  out  of  nut- 
shells 34 

CHAPTER  IV 

Smaly  and  Redy  are  not  well  received  :  They  are  thought  to  be 
made  of  painted  cardboard  :  How  the  Despoiler  fell  into  the 
water  and  left  a  foot  behind  him  :  Mistigris  sticks  a  fish-bone 
into  the  back  of  the  Despoiler  :  Judgment  is  passed  on  the  two 
strangers  :  They  will  be  banished  at  nightfall  :  The  walls  of 
the  three  gardens  are  discussed  38 

CHAPTER  V 

Redy  and  Smaly  watch  the  review  of  the  troops  :  Smaly  and  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow  discourse  about  soldiers  :  The  Chief  Con- 
tractor distributes  the  food,  and  the  Wigs  pass  through  a  curious 
little  door  :  The  Soy  powder  makes  the  provisions  grow  59 


458302 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Sugar-Cane  Prison  arrives  :  The  Rats  water  it  with  Soy 
fluid  to  keep  the  canes  growing  as  fast  as  the  Prisoner  breaks 
them  down  :  The  time  for  siesta  draws  on,  and  Smaly  and  Redy 
go  into  the  house  of  the  Historian  73 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  Flying-Fish  announces  the  hour  of  three,  and  the  World 
falls  asleep  :  The  Hen  makes  six  hard-boiled  eggs  :  Smaly  and 
Redy  begin  to  read  the  manuscript  of  the  Historian  82 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Redy  and  Smaly  read  of  the  childhood  of  the  Prisoner  95 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  elder  Flying- Fish  loses"  one  eye,  and  the  Hen  finds  it  : 
The  Historian  wakes  up,  and  Smaly  and  Redy  run  out  of  the 
house  :  The  Healer  mends  the  paw  of  the  Confectioner  100 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Wigs  all  imagine  they  suffer  from  headache  :  The  Rats  come 
to  the  Healer  to  be  cured  of  the  ravages  of  hot  Soy  :  The  Chief 
Contractor  has  to  make  himself  ill  eating  the  musical  instru- 
ments in 

CHAPTER  XI 

The  young  girls  dance  for  the  Rats,  then  play  a  curious  game 
of  tennis  :  They  fail  to  understand  Smaly 's  point  of  view  122 

CHAPTER  XII 

The  Mother  of  the  Crow  tells  of  the  life  and  death  of  Djorak 
in  his  own  country  127 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Smaly  and  Redy  are  taken  to  see  the  Fleet :  The  Prisoner  arrives 
and  the  Wigs  fly  in  terror  :  Smaly  and  Redy  at  last  have  speech 
with  the  Prisoner  146 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  three  daughters  of  the  Prisoner  are  installed  in  their  gardens   161 

CHAPTER  XV 

Smaly  and  Redy  effect  the  rescue  of  the  three  young  girls  : 
Djorak  joins  them  and  they  all  partake  of  a  delightful  picnic  : 
Smaly  blows  the  Soy  powder  over  the  country  of  the  Wigs  : 
Then  the  six  friends  go  home  170 

vi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

IN  COLOUR 

Facing 
page 

FRITILLA  AND  THE  RED  FLYING-FISH  Frontispiece 

THE  CITY  CURIOUS  16 

THEY  WERE  KNOWN  AS  THE  "  WIGS  "  BECAUSE  OF  THEIR  LARGE 

PERUKES  24 

THESE  CREATURES  DID  NOT  RESEMBLE  ANYTHING  THAT  REDY  AND 

SMALY  HAD  SEEN  UP  TO  THEN  32 

LAPTITZA  AND  PAPYLICK  64 

SOME  OF  THE  DANCES  WERE  VERY  COMPLICATED  96 

KISIKA  IN  HER  SEDAN-CHAIR  128 

THE  PICNIC  WHICH  FOLLOWED  WAS  AN  UNFORGETTABLE  REPAST  160 


IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE 

PAGE 

REDY  2 

SMALY  3 

IN  THIS  LAND  ALL  THE  BIRDS  WORE  HATS  AND  SPURS  4 

REDY'S  HANDS  WERE  CRYING  WITH  FRIGHT  6 

BUT  HE  FOUND  HE,  TOO,  HAD  A  BEAK  7 

THEY  SANG  AND  DANCED  8 
NEITHER  THE  LATCH  NOR  THE  HINGE  BORE  ANY  TRACE  OF  HAVING 

BEEN  BITTEN  IO 

vii 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

LOOKING  FOR  THE  KEY  n 

KANGAROO-CONFECTIONER  13 

TO    CARRY    THE    LAST    CURL    AS    THOUGH    IT    WERE    THE    END   OF   A 

TRAIN  16 

THEY  MADE  ONE  WANT  TO  DANCE  17 
WITH  THE  SPOON  WHICH  EVERY  WIG  CARRIES  HUNG  FROM  HIS  BELT      19 

THESE  HORSES,  HOWEVER,  WERE  MADE  OF  SUGAR  20 

THE  SPONGES  21 

TO  RETURN  TO  A  MERE   SHAPELESS  THING   ONCE  AGAIN  23 

A  TRAVELLER  TOLD  us  24 

NEVERTHELESS  SMALY  AND  REDY  STARTED  TO  HELP  HIM  26 

THE  GRUB  WAS  REALLY  THE  DOORKEEPER  27 

"  WE  WISH  TO  HAVE  THREE  GIRLS  "  28 

THE  CROW  LIFTED  HIM  UP  29 

THE  CROW  30 

THE  MOTHER  OF  THE  CROW  31 

"  SHE  SEES  ONLY  ONE  SIDE  OF  MEN,  BIRDS,  AND  THINGS  "  32 

THE  SHORT-LEGGED  MAN  35 

PAPYLICK  36 
OPENING  THE  NUTS  AND  DISPLAYING  THE  Two  LITTLE  PEOPLE          39 

LEADING  BY  THE  HAND  THE  CHOCOLATE  GRUB  40 

THE  BIRDS  WITH  THEIR  LEGS  ENCASED  IN  CUTLET  FRILLS  41 

THE  EGGS  RUNNING  ALONG  42 

THEY  WERE  GENTLE  AND  PRETTY  PIGS  43 

A  MOST  SPLENDID  FEAST  44 

THE  DESPOILER  45 

WHICH  is  IN  THIS  COUNTRY  A  GREAT  SIGN  OF  MIRTH  46 

HE  FLED  HASTILY  47 

MlSTIGRIS  48 

THE  YOUNG  STORK  49 

EVERY  ONE  UTTERED  CRIES  OF  INDIGNATION  50 

viii 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

"YOU   CAN  ROLL   THE  CORD"  5! 

THE  CHIEF  CONTRACTOR  REPLIED  53 

CHILDREN  WERE  BUILT  OF  MUCH  FEWER  SLICES  OF  CAKE  THAN  THE 

GROWN-UPS  54 

THESE  CREATURES  WILL  EAT  THE  TOP  OFF  THE  WALLS  55 

ANGER  56 
IT  SEEMED  TO  THEM  THAT  MEN  GREW  UPWARDS  AND  NOT  TOWARDS 

THE  GROUND  57 

SOME  VERY  ELEGANT  MICE  58 
ONE  HALF  EXPRESSED  SEVERE  AUTHORITY,  THE  OTHER  WAS  ALL 

GENTLENESS  60 

HE  DECIDED  THAT  THEY  MUST  HAVE  A  SIMILAR  REVIEW  EVERY  WEEK  62 

THEY  HAD  ALL  PUT  ON  THICK  GLOVES  63 

WlGS,  WHO  WERE  PUTTING  -THE  SOLDIERS  BACK  IN  THEIR  BOXES  64 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  PASENIPUS  65 

TO  CONDUCT  HER  BACK  TO  HER  HOUSE,  WHICH  WAS  IN  A  COSY  NOOK 

IN  A  GREAT  TREE  OF  CORAL  67 

THE  CONFECTIONER  69 
' '"NEVERTHELESS  IT'S  so  NARROW  THAT  ONLY  ONE  PERSON  CAN  GO 

THROUGH   AT   A   TIME"  70 

THE  SONG  WENT  ON  71 

RUNNING  HARD  WITH  THEIR  LITTLE  SHORT  LEGS  73 

SOY  MILL  74 

SOY  RESERVOIR  75 

CARRYING  AWAY  EVERY  OBJECT  THAT  THEY  COULD  LIFT  77 

THE  PRISONER  79 

THE  PRISONER  NEVER  CEASED  TO  BREAK  THE  SUGAR-CANES  80 
THE  PET  FLYING-FISH,  WHICH  EVERY  WIG  FAMILY  POSSESSES  AND 

CHERISHES  83 
THE  AMOUNT  OF  CAKE  AND  PUDDING  EATEN  ANNUALLY  IN  THE 

COUNTRY  84 

THE  ELDER  OF  THE  FISHES  85 

ix 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


THE  HEN  86 
THIS  CARE  WHICH  THE  CONFECTIONER  TOOK  OF  FRITILLA  WAS  BY 

NO  MEANS  UNNECESSARY  88 

THE  SMALLER  FLYING-FISH  89 

DROPPED  THEM  THROUGH  A  HOLE  IN  HIS  BEAK  90 

WAS  SITTING  WITH  ONE  ANKLE  ACROSS  THE  KNEE  OF  HIS  OTHER  LEG  9! 

THE  DESPOILER,  WHO  WAS  ALWAYS  AFRAID  THAT  SOME  ONE  WOULD 
FIND  OUT  THAT  HE  WAS  ONLY  MADE  OF  CARDBOARD,  NEVER 

SLEPT  IN  PUBLIC  93 
"  INSTEAD  OF  CUTTING  HIS  TOE-NAILS  AS  WE  DO  WITH  THE  HELP  OF 

A  LONG-HANDLED  PAIR  OF  SCISSORS  AND  A  TELESCOPE  "  96 

THE  KING  97 

THE  KING'S  DAUGHTER  98 

THE  HEALER  103 

BORN  WITH  THE  IDEA  OF  ONE  DAY  BEING  A  VERY  BIG  MAN  104 

BETWEEN  THEM  WAS  FASTENED  A  COMFORTABLE  ARM-CHAIR  106 

THERE  WERE  NEWSBOYS  SELLING  ACCOUNTS  OF  THE  LATEST  DISASTER 

TO  THE  WIGS  1 08 

THE  HEALER  HAD  FINISHED  HIS  MENDING  109 

MATHEMATICIAN  in 

MIGRAINE  112 

WRAPPED  THEIR  HANDKERCHIEFS  ROUND  THEIR  HEADS  112 

"  I,  TOO,  HOPE  SO,"  SAID  HIS  WlFE,  WHO  HAD  JUST  COME  IN  113 

NEARLY  ALL  HAD  ONE  LEG  WHICH  WAS  MUCH  LONGER  THAN  THE 

OTHER,  OR  A  VERY  LONG  ARM  115 

His  ELONGATED  TAIL  WAS  TIED  TO  THE  QUEUE  OF  HIS  WIG  116 

"  BUT  ONLY  LOOK  AT  OUR  ARMS  AND  LEGS  "  117 

EVEN  MORE  THAN  THEY  FEARED  THE  FLIES  Il8 

REWARDS  119 

THE  DWARF  HAD  PULLED  ON  A  PAIR  OF  BOOTS  120 

THE  ACCORDION-PLAYERS  BEGAN  123 

X 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAOB 


TENNIS  124 

THE  BALL  HUNG. UP  THUS  125 

TEA-COSY  128 

'•WE'RE  WAITING  FOR  THE  SUN  TO  GO  DOWN"  129 

SERVANTS  OUT  SHOPPING  FOLLOWED  IT  WITH  THEIR  LADEN  BASKETS 

ON  THEIR  ARMS  131 

HE  THRUST  HIS  FACE  INTO  ROSES  COVERED  WITH  DEW  132 

THE  EXECUTIONER  BANDAGED  HIS  EYES  133 

NEXT  HE  TOOK  SOME  OLD  CARDBOARD  BOXES  135 

OPENED  THEM  AND  SHUT  THEM  AGAIN  136 

His  YOUNG  SON  WAS  THERE  137 

THE  BRINDLED  RABBIT  138 
His  LITTLE  PAW  SHOVED  A  FOLDED  SLIP  OF  PAPER  THROUGH  THE 

OPENING  139 

THEN  THEY  SANG  A  COMIC  DUET  140 

THEN  THEY  QUESTIONED  A  BLACK  TOAD  141 

AND  FISH  IN  THE  LITTLE  RIVER  IN  THE  AFTERNOON  142 

THE  THIN  LONG  ARM  OF  THE  HISTORIAN  143 

EXTRACTING  FISH-BONES  FROM  THE  BACK  OF  THE  DESPOILER  147 

THEY  BORE  A  LARGE  COPPER  CAULDRON  148 

THE  ADMIRAL  WAS  A  TRITON  149 

THE  WHITE  DOLPHIN  WITH  PINK  EYES  150 

AN  EXTREMELY  CURIOUS  FISH  151 
"  A  BAND  OF  OUR  RATS  WILL  EACH  MORNING  COPIOUSLY  WATER  OUR 

FLEET "  153 

WlGS  WERE  BUSY  WRITING  THEIR  NAMES  154 

A  RED  FLAG  155 

"  I    HAVE   DESTROYED    A   HUNDRED    TIMES    PASSING    OVER    IT    IN   MY 

PRISON  "  157 
"  I  WAS  CAUGHT  STEPPING  RIGHT  OVER  THEIR  SILLY  OLD  DRY  CANAL 

158 
xi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


THE  MANUFACTURER  OF  CARDBOARD  BOXES  159 

A  SENTINEL  WHO  LOOKED  LIKE  A  DRAGON-FLY  163 
THE  GARDENS  WERE  ARRANGED  AFTER  THE  SAME  PRINCIPLE  AS  THE 

WINDOWS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  HISTORIAN  164 
A  LITTLE  RED  FEATHER,  WHICH  SHE  HAD  PICKED  UP  IN  THE  MARKET- 
PLACE 166 
NEXT  THE  DESPOILER  APPROACHED  167 

THE  WIFE  OF  THE  CHIEF  CONTRACTOR  PRESENTED  KISIKA  WITH  A 

BEAUTIFUL  FAN  MADE  OF  PAPER  LACE  169 

DIRECTLY  THEY  SAW  THE  FLYING-FISH  ENTER  171 

THEIR  Two  LITTLE  HEADS  APPEARED  SIDE  BY  SIDE  172 

SMALY  STANDING  ON  THE  POINT  OF  HIS  TOES  173 

So  DURING  THREE  DAYS  THE  YOUNG  GIRLS  WERE  BUSY  MAKING  THE 

STAIRS  175 

THE  RED  FLYING-FISH  CARRIED  A  LARGE  HAT  AND  MANTLE  IN  ITS 

CLAWS  176 

CARRYING  AS  MANY  OF  THE  PRESENTS  AS  THEY  COULD  177 

WlGS  THEMSELVES  WOULD  HAVE  MELTED  AWAY  DIRECTLY  THEY 

PASSED  THE  FRONTIER  178 

THEY  HUNG  our  OF  THE  WINDOWS  179 


Xll 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 


CHAPTER  I 

Smaly  and  his  wife  Redy  set  forth  in  search  of  three  little  girls  : 
They  are  bewitched  so  that  their  noses  turn  into  beaks  :  Smaly 
eats  the  latch  of  a  door  and  Redy  eats  the  hinge  :  Redy's  fingers 
weep  tears  :  They  meet  with  a  Confectioner  who  resembles  a 
Kangaroo. 

SMALY  and  Redy  were  husband  and  wife,  and 
they  lived  together  in  a  little  white  house.  This 
house  had  three  rooms  upstairs  and  three  rooms 
downstairs  ;  and  each  room  was  so  pretty  that  it 
gave  one  joy  to  see  it.  Smaly  and  Redy  were  very 
proud  of  their  house,  and  were  never  so  happy  as 
when  they  were  putting  it  to  rights.  Every  day 
they  did  something  to  one  or  other  of  the  rooms, 
changing  the  position  of  the  furniture  or  the  pictures. 

One  day,  while  Smaly  was  walking  in  the  town  he 
saw  three  mirrors  in  a  shop  window,  and  he  thought 
they  would  be  just  the  thing  to  hang  up  in  the  three 
bedrooms  ;  so  he  bought  the  mirrors  and  went  home 
with  them  in  high  glee. 

In  the  meantime,  Redy,  his  little  wife,  also  had 
an  idea  to  beautify  the  bedrooms,  so  she  went  out 
into  the  garden  to  pick  some  flowers. 

Smaly  hung  a  looking-glass  in  each  of  the  three 
little  bedrooms,  then  he  carefully  closed  all  three 
doors  and,  going  downstairs,  sat  himself  by  the 

A  I 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

hearth.    A  fire  was  burning  there,  for  the  spring  was 
still  young  in  the  land. 

While  he  sat  there,  smoking,  lost  in  the  most 
delicious  daydreams,  his  pleasant  little  wife  Redy 
came  in  with  her  arms  full  of  flowers.  She  took  three 
vases  from  the  dresser,  and  began  to  arrange  the 
flowers  in  them,  holding  her  head  on  one  side  like  a 
bird. 

When  she  had  put  each  flower  exactly  as  she 
wished,  she  gently  shook  Smaly's  elbow.  He  jumped 
up,  took  two  vases  without  a  word,  while  she  picked 
up  the  third.  They  disposed  a  vase  in 
each  of  the  three  little  bedrooms,  and 
stood  back  to  admire  the  effect ;  which, 
indeed,  was  quite  charming. 
Suddenly  Redy  gave  a  sigh. 
It's  all  very  well,"  said  she,  "  but 
there's  no  one  to  live  in  our 
pretty  rooms." 

Smaly  sighed,  too.  "  That's 
just  what  I  was  thinking,"  said 
he.  "  Oh,  Redy,  how  nice  it 
would  be  if  we  had  three  little 
girls  to  live  in  our  three  bed- 
rooms, so  that  they  could  admire 
your  flowers  and  look  at  them- 
selves in  my  pretty  mirrors." 

"  Let  us  wish  for  them,"  said 
Redy,  and  she  folded  her  hands 
together    on    her    apron    and 
REDY  chanted : 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

"  We  wish  to  have^three]  girls, 
Fine,  sweet,  pink,  and  good 
They  shall  have  more  pudding  than  they  like. 
And  a  green,  green,  and  rosy  garden." 

Smaly  repeated  the  poem  in  his  turn,  but  Redy 
had  to  prompt  him,  for  he  had  a  very  bad  memory. 

They  waited  for  some  time,  but  nothing  happened, 
so  they  said  the  verse  over  again,  and  this  time 
Smaly  repeated  it  without  any  mistake  ;  but  still 
nothing  happened. 

"  Wishing  does  not  seem  to  be  much 
good,"  said  Smaly  despondently. 

"  Wishing  never  is  any  good,"  an- 
swered Redy, "  unless  one  does  some- 
thing more  than  wish.  If  we  want  to 
find  our  three  little  girls  we  must  set 
out  and  look  for  them." 

"  Yes,  but  where  ?  "  asked  Smaly. 

"  As  for  that,"  answered  his  little 
wife,  "I  do  not  know  any 
more  than  you,  but  that  verse 
we  chanted  just  now  is  a 
magic  verse,  and  we  shall  find 
the  way.  We  will  get  ready 
to  start  to-morrow." 

So  the  very  next  mornin 
they  set  off  on  their  searc 
for  the  three  girls  who  would 
fill  the  white  house  with  joy. 

Redy  had  dressed  herself 
in  her  best.    Her  green  gown  SMALY 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

was  trimmed  with  black  and  emerald  leaves,  and  her 
stockings  and  little  cocked  hat  were  green  to' match 
In  her  basket  she  thoughtfully  placed  two  apples. 


IN  THIS  LAND  ALL  THE  BIRDS  WORE  HATS  AND  SPURS 

Smaly  faced  the  world  in  his  beautiful  dark  violet 
coat,  on  his  head  a  tall  hat  of  the  same  colour.  A 
belt  of  yellow  leather  clasped  his  waist.  In  his 
buttonhole  he  stuck  a  sunflower  to  show  how  happy 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

he  was.  His  best  boots  shone  upon  his  feet.  In 
the  big  pocket  of  his  coat  he  placed  a  couple  of  fresh 
rolls.  The  rolls  and  the  apples  were  their  provisions 
for  the  journey.  For  weapon,  in  casea  of  attack, 
Smaly  carried  a  thin  red  stick. 

•  ••••• 

For  a  long  while  they  walked  and  walked.  They 
crossed  many  countries  which  everybody  knows.  At 
last,  however,  they  found  themselves  in  a  strange 
land,  a  land  of  which  one  hardly  ever  even  hears — 
a  land  which  was  even  odder  than  these  two  odd 
little  people. 

In  this  land  both  men  and  beasts  lived  upon 
nothing  but  sweetmeats  and  pastry. 

In  this  land  the  sun  shone  longer  than  it  does 
with  us,  because  it  often  stopped  for  a  while  to  rest 
during  the  course  of  the  day. 

In  this  land  all  the  birds  wore  hats  and  spurs. 

In  this  land  an  orchestra  of  swallows  played  always 
at  noonday. 

In  this  land  earthworms  wore  spectacles  on  their 
noses  and  swords  at  their  sides. 

In  this  land  such  things  as  bricks,  iron,  wood, 
stone,  and  steel  were  unknown. 

In  this  land,  after  one  had  finished  dinner,  one 
ate  the  plates  and  dishes,  for  they  were  made  of 
sugar. 

In  this  land  nearly  every  inhabitant  was  made  of 
slices  of  cake,  held  together  with  pudding,  sweet- 
meats, nougat,  and  chocolate. 

In  a  word,  there  were  to  be  found  in  this  curious 

5 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

country  a  great  many  things  that  were  strange  and 
wonderful  and  good  to  eat. 

Smaly  and  Redy  knocked  at  the  door  of  this 
wonderful  land,  but  for  some  time  no  one  came  to 
answer  them. 

"  Bother  this  door  ! "  said  Smaly,  at  last,  kicking  at 
it  with  his  new  boots,  and  hitting  it  with  his  red  cane. 

"Why,  it's  made  of 
chocolate  ! ':  cried  Redy, 
who  had  sucked  her  fingers 
after  touching  it. 

"  I  will  eat  the  latch 
away  !  "  decided  Smaly. 

"  And  I'll  eat  the  hin- 
ges/' said  Redy. 

She  seized  a  hinge  and 
he  tore  off  the  latch. 

The  next  moment  the 
tears  were  pouring  down 
their  faces. 

"  Oh,  oh,  it's  burning 
me  !  "  cried  poor  Redy. 

"  It  must  be  made  of 
red  pepper  and  spice  ! " 
wept  Smaly. 

They  had  certainly  burnt 
their  tongues.  They  held 
hands  and  ran  away,  utter- 
ing little  moans  of  pain. 

REDY'S  HANDS  WERE  CRYING  The  P*th    ***    an   ^TUPt 

WITH  FRIGHT  turn,  then  another,  then  a 

6 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

third,  and  yet  a  fourth,  till  it  had  described  a  com- 
plete circle.  Smaly  and  Redy  found  themselves 
once  again  opposite  the  door. 

•  «... 

There  was  no  longer  any  way  out,  for  a  thick 
hedge  now  surrounded  the  two  travellers,  and  they 
found  themselves  in  a  sort  of  green  arena.  Quite  a 
pretty  arena,  but  all  the  same,  it  was  rather  alarming 
to  find  themselves  there,  without  a  word 
of  warning. 

And  the  thick  green  hedge  around 
the  arena  grew  with  such  a  horrible 
rapidity.    Very  soon   it   was   so 
high  that   the  place  became  as 
dark  as  night. 

Smaly,   in    his   alarm,    had 
seized  both   Redy's    hands   in 
his,  and  now  he  suddenly  noticed 
that  they  were  all  wet.    For  one 
dreadful  moment  Smaly  thought 
they  must  be  wet  with  blood,  but 
the  fact  was  that  poor  Redy's  hands 
were  crying  with  fright. 

For  a  little  while  Smaly  and 
Redy  wept  bitterly,  but  they  soon 
grew  too  tired  to  cry.  They  shut 
their  mouths  firmly,  and  tried  to 
leave  off  sobbing  when  they  left 
off  weeping,  but  their  sobs  kept  BUT  HE  FOUND  HE>  T00> 
on  and  on  in  spite  or  them,  for  HAD  A  BEAK 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

all  the  world  like  a  tap  that  keeps  on  going  "  glug- 
glug  !  "  when  one  has  forgotten  to  turn  it  off. 

Smaly  put  up  his  hand,  meaning  to  lay  it  gently 
over  Redy's  mouth. 

She  no  longer  had  a  mouth — in  place  of  it  was  a 
fine  large  beak,  painted  an  elegant  blue.  Filled  with 
horror,  and  sure  that  their  end  had  come,  Smaly 
thought  to  print  on  Redy's  cheek  one  last  kiss  of 
despair. 

But  he  found  he,  too,  had  a  beak,  with  which  he 
could  do  nothing  but  peck.  They  stood  staring  at 
each  other's  beaks.  They  did  not  yet  know  that  the 
beaks  were  invisible  to  all  save  themselves  and  the 
birds. 

They  sat  down  on  their  heels  like  Turkish 
princes,  and  their  sobs  went  on  and  on,  sounding  like 
the  lament  of  thousands  of  insects,  and  still  the  green 
hedges  around  them  went  on  growing,  till  it  seemed 
that  the  two^poor  little  people  were  at  the  bottom  of 
a  profound  green  funnel,  brimming  with  darkness, 
in  which  their  moaning  sounded  like  the  wind  in 
the  chimney  of  a  winter's  night. 

"  Oh,  oh,  my  Redy,  we're  in  a  pretty  pass ! " 
murmured  Smaly,  and  Redy  knew  that  he  was  feeling 
almost  mad  with  fright,  so  that  at  once  she  felt 
mad  with  fright  also.  Now  Redy  had  heard  that 
mad  people  sing  and  dance,  and  so  she  at  once 
began  to  do  both,  dragging  Smaly  along  with  her. 
They  sang  and  danced  till  they  had  no  breath  left, 
and  then  they  wanted  to  drop  down  and  rest,  but 
8 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

found  they  had  to  keep  on  and  on  in  spite  of  them- 
selves. The  dance  of  terror,  and  the  song  with 
which  their  little  little  sobs  and  moans  mingled, 
continued  there  at  the  bottom  of  the  green  funnel. 
There  was  more  noise  than  there  is  at  midday  in 
Oxford  Circus. 

The  pepper  from  the  latch  of  the  door  began  to 


THEY  SANG  AND  DANCED 

burn  again  in  Smaly's  mouth,  and  reminded  him  that 
after  all  there  was  a  door  out  of  this  horrible  place. 
He  began  to  feel  about  for  it  in  the  darkness.  When 
he  found  it  he  uttered  a  sharp  little  cry,  which ,  like 
the  moans  and  the  singing,  refused  to  die  away,  but 
went  on  echoing  in  the  green  funnel,  so  that  by  now 
there  was  a  noise  like  a  tempest,  for  all  the  world  as 
though  the  whole  sea  had  been  imprisoned  in  a  box 
— and  a  box  too  small  for  it. 

Smaly  uttered  this  cry  because  he  had  discovered 

9 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

that  the  latch  was  once  more  in  its  place  on  the  door, 
although  Smaly  had  thrown  it  far  away  after  biting 
it.  Redy's  hinge  also  was  back  in  its  place.  Neither 


NEITHER  THE  LATCH  NOR  THE  HINGE  BORE 
ANY  TRACE  OF  HAVING  BEEN  BITTEN 

the  latch  nor  the  hinge  bore  any  trace  of  having 
been  bitten,  but  felt  smooth  and  solid  to  the  fingers. 


Smaly  and  Redy  became  even  more  terrified  than 
before,  so  that  their  hearts  felt  like  two  little  lumps 
of  ice  in  their  breasts.  And  then  a  very  odd  thing 
happened  to  them.  Their  beaks  opened  of  them- 
selves, and  these  words  came  out  of  them — words 
which  Smaly  and  Redy  had  never  thought  of  saying  : 
10 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

"  Where  is  the  key  ?  " 

Nothing  answered  them. 

Then  they  found  themselves  on  their  hands  and 
knees  looking  for  the  key. 

"  Where  is  the  key  ?  Oh,  Reckybecky,  where  is 
the  key  ? >:>  the  beaks  demanded,  entirely  of  their 
own  accord. 


LOOKING  FOR  THE  KEY 

Immediately  a  little  grille  opened  in  the  door, 
and  a  voice  said  : 

"  Upon  this  side  are  honey,  tea,  and  sugar  !  On 
your  side  are  pepper,  ginger,  and  allspice  !  " 

"  And  on  this  side  there  are  also  the  beaks  of 
birds  ! "  replied  Smaly,  alarmed  at  his  own  temerity ; 
"  and  here  also  are  the  hands  which  weep  !  And  the 
horrible  moanings  !  And " 

He  was  interrupted  by  a  gentle  laugh.  This  laugh 
sounded  like  a  little  peal  of  crystal  bells.  And  as  the 
laugh  went  rippling  on,  the  hedge  began  to  shrink 
and  shrink,  and  the  moans  and  sobs  died  away. 


ii 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

The  hearts  of  Smaly  and  Redy  were  beating  like 
a  couple  of  alarum-clocks.  The  gate  had  a  little 
grille  in  it  and  they  peeped  through  this  grille  to  see 
what  creature  it  was  whose  silvery  laughter  had  the 
power  to  charm  away  both  the  high  hedge  and  the 
weird  moanings.  Although  the  creature  was  several 
yards  away  they  could  see  quite  clearly  his  large,  rosy 
eyes  edged  with  grey  rims.  They  saw  the  creature 
as  distinctly  as  one  can  see  the  actors  on  the  stage 
when  one  looks  through  opera-glasses. 

They  saw  that  the  rosy  grey-rimmed  eyes  were 
set  in  a  face  of  the  green  of  a  pistachio-nut.  The 
hair  was  the  vague  blue  of  cigarette  smoke.  The 
head  looked  as  though  it  were  sculptured  out  of 
mother-of-pearl.  Later,  they  discovered  that  it  was 
a  mingling  of  ice-cream  and  jelly,  for  the  creature 
himself  was  a  confectioner. 

He  was  a  confectioner  .  .  .  and  yet  Smaly  could 
have  wagered  his  beautiful  new  boots  that  he  was 
more  of  a  kangaroo  than  anything  else.  For  though 
this  confectioner  wore  an  apron  and  a  fine  green 
waistcoat,  yet  undoubtedly  his  chess-board  trousers 
and  embroidered  stockings  covered  the  powerful 
hind  legs  of  a  kangaroo.  The  long  paws  were  shod 
with  a  species  of  pattens,  so  big  they  seemed  like 
miniature  tables,  and  these  pattens  were  painted 
scarlet.  Slung  all  about  him,  the  Kangaroo  carried 
as  many  pots  and  pans  as  a  travelling  tinker.  He  was 
adorned  as  well  by  spoons  of  bamboo,  and  from  his 
belt  hung  ebony-handled  knives,  while  jam-jars  and 
flagons,  filled  with  preserves  and  essences,  dangled 

12 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 


about  him.  The  most 
tender  mauves  and 
translucent  greens 
glowed  through  the 
glass  of  the  flagons. 

Smaly  studied  the 
good-natured  face  of 
this  personage,  and 
asked  him  simply  : 

"  Who  are  you  ?  " 

Then  the  Kanga- 
roo-Confectioner said 
a  surprising  thing.  He 
replied  : 

"  I  am  the  Archi- 
tect." 

The  moment  he 
had  spoken  he  put  up 
his  hand  and  shut  his 
mouth,  to  prevent  the 
sound  of  his  words 
going  on  and  on  in  the 
curious  air  of  the  place, 
which  seemed  to  hold 
sounds  suspended  as 
water  holds  the  fronds 
of  weeds. 

Smaly  looked  at 
him  dubiously. 

"  You  say  you 
are  an  architect  . 


KANGAROO-CONFECTIONER 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

and  yet  your  occupation  appears  to  me  to  be  much 
more  that  of  a  confectioner,  a  super-confectioner." 

The  Kangaroo  seemed  overcome  with  a  nervous- 
ness ;  his  smiling  face  creased  itself  into  a  thousand 
little  lines  of  distress,  his  eyes  looked  vacant, 
his  manner  became  flustered.  Evidently  he  was 
struggling  with  his  emotion.  When  he  had  suf- 
ficiently recovered  he  planted  his  long  feet  more 
firmly  on  their  scarlet  pattens,  and,  taking  a  deep 
breath,  chanted  as  follows  : 

"  With  jam  I  build  the  walls, 
And  with  jam  I  fill  the  tarts, 
With  honey-cake  I  tile  the  roofs 
Which  crest  the  pastry  towers. 
The  chairs  are  made  of  barley -sugar 
And  the  tables  and  napkins  are  not  of  custard, 
Nor  of  mustard  nor  of  treacle, 
But  I  weave  them  of  thin  macaroni. 

"  I  am  the  Builder  Architect, 
Who  makes  the  cottages  and  the  tarts, 
Who  knows  all  about  chairs  and  farms, 
Who  makes  the  castles  and  the  biscuits 
With  chocolate  and  nice  cornflour. 

"  Where  1  am — honey,  tea,  and  sugar  ! 
Where  you  are,  pepper,  ginger,  and  allspice  1 ' 

But,  since  the  word  "  allspice "  continued  to 
reverberate  through  the  air,  the  Confectioner  shut 
his  mouth  smartly  with  his  finger  and  thumb. 


CHAPTER  II 

Smaly  installs  himself  upon  one  of  the  Kangaroo's  paws  :  The 
two  little  people  see  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  peculiar 
country  :  They  meet  some  sugar  horses,  and  they  see  also  a  fish 
which  flies  and  some  sponges  which  walk  :  The  Wigs  imagine 
that  Smaly  is  made  of  suet  :  The  ebony  and  crystal  spectacles  : 
The  Mother  of  the  Crow. 

SMALY  saw  that  there  was  no  reason  to  be  afraid 
of  this  strange  creature  so  he  crawled  in  through 
the  grille  of  the  gate  and  sat  down  upon  one  of 
the  Confectioner's  enormous  paws.  Redy  made  haste 
to  follow  him.  No  sooner  was  she  settled  than  a 
number  of  strange  little  beings  appeared  as  though 
from  nowhere  and  clustered  around  her,  pointing 
curious  fingers  at  her  while  they  chatted  amongst 
themselves. 

These  little  beings  were  the  inhabitants  of  this 
strange  new  country.  They  nearly  all  wore  gigantic 
wigs,  and  sometimes  these  wigs  were  so  long  that 
they  needed  a  page  to  carry  the  last  curl  as  though 
it  were  the  end  of  a  train. 

The  more  Redy  looked  at  these  funny  little  people 
the  greater  was  the  amazement  that  appeared  upon 
her  face. 

Smaly  also  was  astonished  ;  but  he  would  have 
died  sooner  than  let  his  astonishment  appear. 

15 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

These  curious  little  beings,  who  were  known  as 
the  "  Wigs  "  because  of  their  large  perukes,  were 
even  smaller  than  Redy  and  Smaly.  At  first  sight 
they  looked  rather  like  those  stiff  little  coloured  figures 
you  may  see  in  Egyptian  drawings  at  the  British 
Museum,  but  no  Egyptians  were  ever  dressed  as 


TO  CARRY  THE  LAST  CURL  AS  THOUGH  IT  WERE  THE 
END  OF  A  TRAIN 

these  people  were.  Their  vividly  coloured  clothes 
were  composed  of  mosaics  of  caramel  and  jam, 
with  insertions  of  fruit  and  cake.  Each  one  wore 
on  his  head  a  hat  made  of  preserved  fruit  or  of  a 
whole  bun  or  little  cake.  Shoes  seemed  to  be  very 
much  a  matter  of  individual  taste  in  this  land,  for 
every  inhabitant  wore  a  pair  of  a  different  colour, 
shoes  so  gay  that  the  mere  sight  of  them  made 
one  want  to  dance.  There  was  one  woman  in 
particular  who  wore  upon  her  head  a  cake  in  the 
16 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

form  of  a  little  tower,  who  had  the  most  charming 
mauve  shoes  with  red  soles,  upon  which  Redy  felt 
her  eyes  always  returning  enviously. 

The  Wigs  for  their  part  had  not  gathered  to- 
gether merely  to  look  at  the  little  strangers.  With 
brightly  coloured  sponges  some  began  to  mop  up 
the  dew  which  still  clung  to  the  leaves  of  the  hedge, 


THEY  MADE  ONE  WANT  TO  DANCE 

while  others  with  little  pieces  of  blotting-paper  set 
to  work  to  dry  each  blade  of  grass  at  the  side  of  the 
road.  This  seemed  such  a  useless  thing  to  do  that 
Smaly  would  have  liked  to  ask  why  they  were  doing 
it,  but  he  felt  too  shy,  so  he  contented  himself  with 
winking  at  Redy.  Then  he  glanced  up  at  the  Con- 
fectioner. 

"  Tell  me— why  has  Redy  got  a  beak  ? '  he 
asked,  and  before  he  could  be  answered  began  to 
suck  his  finger.  He  sucked  it  because  a  drop  of 

B  17 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

sweet  preserve  had  fallen  upon  it  from  one  of  the 
Confectioner's  pots. 

"  Has  Redy  got  wings  as  well  ? '  asked  the 
Confectioner,  thoughtfully  taking  a  spoonful  of  the 
same  preserve  and  offering  it  to  Redy. 

'  No,"  said  Smaly. 

"  Then  she  can't  have  a  beak,"  replied  the 
Confectioner  triumphantly. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  you  don't  see  her  beak  or 
mine  either  ?  "  asked  Smaly  in  astonishment. 

"  Never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  a  beak  upon  any 
creature  that  had  not  wings  as  well,"  replied  the 
Confectioner  stolidly;  "  therefore  it  doesn't  exist." 

"  A  beak,  a  beak,  a  beak,  not  exist,  not  exist, 
not  exist,"  said  all  the  echoes  one  after  the  other. 

Smaly  decided  to  wait  until  the  Confectioner 
spoke  again  ;  but  it  was  Redy  who  broke  the  silence 
in  an  unexpected  manner. 

She  walked  away  from  the  Confectioner  and  stood 
looking  at  him  scornfully  from  a  little  distance. 

"  An  architect ! "  she  said.  "  You  say  you  are  an 
architect,  but  when  we  called  *  Reckybecky  '  you 
opened  the  door,  therefore  you  are  Reckybecky, 
nothing  but  Reckybecky." 

The  Confectioner,  who  was  a  simple  soul,  stared 
at  her  very  disconcerted.  "  Reckybecky,"  he  re- 
peated in  a  sort  of  stupefaction.  "  Reckybecky,  am 
I  really  nothing  but  that  ?  ' 

"  You  are  Reckybecky,"  repeated  Redy  firmly. 

"  Dear  me,  I  never  heard  that  before,"  said  the 
Confectioner.  "  I  wonder  if  you  can  be  right. 
18 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

Then  if  I  am  Reckybecky  I  suppose  I  am  not  an 
architect  at  all/'  and  he  covered  his  face  to  try  and 
think  more  clearly. 

The  two  little  people  watched  him  timidly, 
wondering  what  was  going  on  in  that  bent  head. 
Suddenly  the  Confectioner  raised  his  head  and  flung 
his  pots  and  pans,  his  spoons  and  his  knives,  on  to 
the  ground  on  either  side  of  him. 

Most  of  the  pots  broke  and  fragrant  streams  of 
beautifully  coloured  preserves  spread  here  and  there 
over  the  uneven  ground.  Immediately  dozens  of 
Wigs  pounced  upon  the  wreckage,  and  while  the  jams 
trickled  hither  and  thither  amongst 
the  grass  these  creatures  tried  to 
scrape  it  up  again  into  jugs  and 
basins,  and  even  into  their  caps, 
with  the  spoon  which  every  Wig 
carries  hung  from  his  belt. 

At  some  distance  off  a 
procession  had  been  passing 
which  had  hitherto  paid  no 
attention  to  the  crowd  round 
the  gate,  but  now  this  broke 
up  and  various  persons  quit- 
ted its  ranks  to  try  and  scrape 
up  some  of  the  precious  pre- 
serves. These  creatures  did 
not  resemble  anything  that 
Redy  and  Smaly  had  seen 
up  to  then.  At  first  sight  WITH  THE  SPOON  WHICH  EVERY 

„  .  ,9  WlG    CARRIES    HUNG    FROM    HIS 

they  all  appeared  to  be  riding  BELT 

19 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

little  horses ;  horses  draped  like  those  which  we  see 
in  old  pictures  of  tournaments. 

These  horses,  however,  were  made  of  sugar,  and 
very  soon  Redy  and  Smaly  perceived  that  they  were 
simply  worn  round  the  waists  of  the  Wigs,  whose  two 
feet  ran  along  the  ground  beneath  the  draperies  where 
the  four  feet  of  the  horses  should  have  been. 

Smaly  could  not  help  thinking  that  to  have  a 


THESE  HORSES,  HOWEVER,  WERE  MADE  OF  SUGAR 

horse  like  that  would  be  rather  fine  if  you  could  not 
afford  a  real  horse  of  your  own  ;  but  Redy  was 
occupied  in  admiring  the  fine  costumes  of  the  Wigs 
who  owned  the  horses. 

These  cavaliers  were  splendidly  clad  in  green, 
white,  rose,  grey,  and  black.  One,  in  particular, 
wore  rose-coloured  boots,  and  his  horse  was  made 
to  resemble  a  blue  roan.  Its  mane  was  like  a  cocks- 
comb, cut  in  scarlet  points. 

All  these  things  Redy  and  Smaly  managed  to 
observe  without  showing  undue  astonishment ;  but 
20 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

neither  could  resist  a  little  cry  of  surprise  when 
they  saw  flying  through  the  air  a  large  fish.  This 
fish,  who  wore  a  ring  through  his  nose,  had  also 
come  to  take  part  in  the  unexpected  feast. 

Finally,  even  the  Sponges,  which  the  Wigs 
carried  in  their  hands,  and  with  which  they  had 
been  drying  the  hedges,  jumped  out  of  their  hands. 
Each  Sponge  unfolded  little  legs  and  started  running 
towards  the  jam. 

•  ••••• 

And  now  a  strange  thing  began  to  happen  to  the 
Confectioner.  The  poor  fellow  was  evidently  in  great 
distress  because  Redy  had  told 
him  that  he  was  not  an  archi- 
tect, but  only  Reckybecky. 

Redy  and  Smaly  had  never 
in  all  their  lives  seen  any  one 
so  cruelly  upset. 

He  seemed  to  be  melting 
before  their  eyes  and  becom- 
ing transparent.    He  did  not 
cry ;    but  seemed    rather  to 
be  transformed  into  a  sort  of 
damp  and  clinging  fog.    "  Just  as 
though    he    were   *  dissolving   in 
tears/"   thought   Smaly.    And    he 
stared  curiously  at  the  Confectioner 
who  every  moment   became  more 
cloud-like  than  ever. 

But  suddenly  the  vague  outline 
of  a  hand,  which  was  all  that  re-       THE  SPONGES 

21 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

mained  of  him,  struck  the  vaguer  outline  of  his  fore- 
head as  though  an  idea  had  come  to  him.  Once 
more  his  face  assumed  a  clarity  as  though  it  were 
made  of  mother-of-pearl,  and  he  cried  out : 

1  Reckybecky  !  " 

This  name  reverberated  round  and  about  like  a 
clap  of  thunder.  It  went  on  and  on,  making  such  a 
noise  that  all  the  little  Wigs  left  off  scraping  up  the 
jam  and  scampered  away. 

|  Redy  felt  afraid.  Smaly  jumped  off  the  patten 
on  which  he  had  remained  perched  during  the 
eclipse  of  the  Confectioner.  As  to  the  latter,  he 
endeavoured  to  shut  his  mouth  and  stop  the  noise 
from  going  on  echoing  ;  but  he  was  not  very  solid 
again  as  yet  and  found  some  difficulty  in  doing  it. 
At  the  end  of  the  long  avenue  of  sugar-trees  Redy 
could  see  little  groups  of  people  gathered  together 
looking  about  them  to  try  and  discover  whence  came 
this  noise. 

The  Confectioner  succeeded  in  shutting  his 
mouth,  and  then  turning  towards  Redy  he  opened 
it  again,  and  remarked  firmly  : 

"  You  are  a  stupid  little  thing." 

Then  turning  to  Smaly  he  said,  with  that  con- 
fidential accent  which  one  adopts  when  singling  out 
the  most  intelligent  person  of  a  company  for  one's 
remarks  : 

"  No,  I  cannot  be  Reckybecky,  for  somebody 
else  is  Reckybecky,  so  there  !  " 

The  Confectioner  seemed  extremely  relieved  by 
this  remarkable  solution. 
22 


TO  RETURN  TO  A  MERE  SHAPELESS  THING  ONCE  AGAIN 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

"  Reckybecky  must  be  the  doorkeeper,"  he  added 
firmly. 

"  The  doorkeeper  ?  "  asked  Smaly  and  Redy. 

"  Certainly,  we've  had  a  doorkeeper  for  years, 

and  one  day  a  traveller  told  us  that  since  we  had  a 

doorkeeper  it  was  necessary  we  should  have  a  door, 

and  then  the  Despoiler,  who  is  the  wisest  of  all  of 

us,  except  the  Mother  of 
the  Crow,  decided  that  since 
we  had  a  porter  who  was 
made  of  chocolate,  we  must 
have  a  gate  made  for  him, 
and  that  the  gate  should  be 
made  of  chocolate  to  match." 
Smaly  and  Redy  turned 
to  look  back  at  the  door ;  the 
grille  by  which  they  had  en- 
tered had  disappeared,  and 
everywhere  the  chocolate 
had  become  solid  once  again. 
"  1  will  show  you  the 
doorkeeper  soon,"  promised 
the  Confectioner,  "  but  for 
goodness'  sake  don't  tell  him 
that  you  know  he's  a  door- 
keeper. He  thinks  he's  sim- 
ply a  chocolate  grub  on  his 
way  to  become  a  chocolate 
butterfly  ;  in  fact,  we  have 
nominated  another  door- 
A  TRAVELLER  TOLD  us  keeper  to  take  his  place  if 


THEY  WERE  KNOWN  AS  THE  "  WIGS  "  BECAUSE  OF 
THEIR  LARGE  PERUKES 


?*  15 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

this  ever  comes  off.  This  other  person  isn't  really  a 
doorkeeper  either,  but  there's  one  thing  he  can  do, 
and  that  is,  he  can  make  the  latch  and  the  hinge 
grow  again  when  somebody  has  eaten  them."  The 
Confectioner  looked  at  Redy  and  Smaly  very 
severely  when  he  said  this. 

They  both  felt  extremely  embarrassed. 

•  ••••• 

With  his  nail,  which  looked  exactly  like  a  horn 
salt-spoon,  the  Confectioner  scraped  the  inner  side 
of  the  door  just  beside  the  latch,  and  Redy  and 
Smaly  saw  the  chocolate  grow  again  as  rapidly  as 
he  scraped  it  away. 

The  Confectioner  gave  a  little  exclamation  of 
annoyance,  and  began  to  hunt  for  his  magic  ring 
amongst  all  the  things  he  had  thrown  to  the  ground ; 
but  he  could  not  find  it.  This  ring  had  the  power 
of  preventing  both  plants  and  things  from  growing, 
and  without  it  the  Confectioner  was  unable  to  prevent 
the  chocolate  door  from  replacing  itself  as  fast  as 
he  scraped  it  away.  Nevertheless  Smaly  and  Redy 
started  to  help  him,  and  they  all  three  scraped  so 
hard  that  they  caught  a  glimpse  in  the  interior  of 
the  door  of  a  tiny  creature  sitting  in  a  niche.  This 
creature  was  a  grub  about  the  size  of  a  nut.  Round 
its  waist  it  wore  a  key  as  big  as  itself,  and  on  its  head 
a  fur  bonnet,  which  nodded  forward  to  its  chest. 

"  It's  asleep,"  said  the  little  man  to  the  little 

woman. 

•  ••••• 

At  this  moment  a  Crow  made  of  bilberry  preserve 

25 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

and  liquorice  hopped  up  to  them.    This  Crow  was 
the  doorkeeper  who  was  yet  not  the  doorkeeper  ; 


NEVERTHELESS  SMALY  AND  REDY  STARTED  TO  HELP  HIM 

and  who  had  been  nominated  in  the  place  of  the 
grub.  The  grub  wasj really  the  doorkeeper ;  but 
always  refused  to  admit  it. 

The   Crow,  who   seemed   convulsed  with  rage, 
26 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

seized  Redy  in  one  claw  and  Smaly  in  the  other, 
preparatory  to  throwing  them  outside  once  more. 

At  this  dangerous  moment  Smaly  once  again 
found  his  beak  crying  out  of  itself.  This  time  he 
heard  it  say  that  he  wished  to  speak  to  the  Chief 
Contractor. 

The  Crow  lifted  him  up  by  his  waistband,  and 
gazed  at  him  with  his  big  bright  eye  like  a  magnifying- 
glass,  then  he  dropped  him. 

'  Why,  it's  made  of  suet  !  "  he  cried  in  disgust. 

He  turned  his  eye  upon  Redy,  who  appeared  to 
him  much  better  looking  with  her  delicate  little  blue 
beak,  which  had  a  bloom  on  it  like  a  grape.  Un- 
like the  Confectioner,  the  Crow  was  perfectly 
well  able  to  perceive  the  beaks  of 
Smaly  and  Redy,  for  he  himself  was 
a  bird,  and  to  no  one -save  a  bird  or 
each  other  were  their  beaks  visible. 

And  that  is  why  you  who  are 
reading  this  book,  and  who  are  not 
birds,  cannot  see  their  beaks  either, 
unless  you  make  a  great  effort. 

Redy,  who  saw  that  the  moment 
had  come  to  explain  what  they 
wanted,  folded  her  hands  on  her 
apron,  and  repeated  her  little  poem : 

"  We  wish  to  have  three  girls, 
Fine,  sweet,  pink,  and  good. 
They  shall  have  more  pudding  than  they  like, 
And  a  green,  green,  and  rosy  garden."  THE     GRUB     WAS 

rr,,         ~  REALLY  THE  DOOR- 

1  he  Crow  said  :  KEEPER 

27 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

"  It  won't  do,"  and  he  took  off  his  glasses,  which 
were  made  of  ebony,  set  in  a  crystal  frame.  On  the 
rims  signs  and  letters  were  engraved  in  characters 
that  looked  rather  Eastern.  If  you  examined  care- 
fully you  saw  that  round  one  lens  was  engraved  : 

DON'T  LOOK  AT  ME. 


"  WE  WISH  TO  HAVE  THREE  GIRLS  " 

And  on  the  other  one : 

FOR  YOU  DON'T  HEAR  WITH  YOUR  EYES. 

Smaly  paid  no  attention  to  the  spectacles,  but 
answered  the  Crow's  remark. 

"  Why  won't  it  do  ?  "  he  asked. 

The  Crow  opened  his  beak  to  answer,  then  he 
shut  it  again,  and  put  on  his  glasses,  for  he  only 
28 


THE  CROW  LIFTED  HIM  UP 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

wore  them  when  he  wanted  to  speak,  and  did  not 
particularly  wish  to  see. 

For  this  Crow  had  three  eyes,  one  on  each  side 
of  his  beak,  and  a  third  one  carried  in  a  medallion 
which  hung  on  a  chain  round  his  neck.  This  third 
eye  was  very  busy  and  saw  more  than  both  the  other 
two  put  together. 

Redy  felt  extremely  annoyed. 
"  How   dare  you   look   at  me  !    You   are   only 
made    of    sugar    and    bilberry 
jam,"  she  exclaimed. 

"  I  didn't  look  at  you,"  said 
the  Crow,  rather  taken  aback. 

"  Only  because  you  are 
looking  at  me,"  now  shouted 
Smaly. 

"  No,  I    am    not,"    re- 
torted  the    Crow,   turning 
his  back  and  taking  off 
his  spectacles. 

"Don't    leave    us," 
cried  Redy  hastily.    "  I 
only    meant    that    you 
were  looking  at  us  with 
that  beautiful  eye  that  hangs  on 
a  chain  round  your  neck." 

"Well,"    said     the    Crow, 
coming  back   and   putting   on 
his  spectacles  once  more,  "  why 
didn't   you   say    so    at    once  ? 
THE  CROW  That's  my  mother's  eye.    She's 

30 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

very  old  ;  but  she  still  wants  to  know  what  is  hap- 
pening in  the  world,  so  I  carry  about  her  eye  with 
me  to  let  it  see.  But  don't  be  frightened.  She 
only  sees  you,  she  doesn't  hear  you." 

"  It  wouldn't  matter  if  she  did.  We  should  not 
dream  of  saying  nasty  things  about  your  mother," 
said  Redy  with  true  emotion. 

"  I  thought  not,"  said  the  Crow  more  peaceably, 
"  besides,  she's  such  a  funny  little  thing,  poor  dear ; 
she's  no  legs,  no  wings,  and 
no  tail." 

"  Dear,  dear,  and  only  one 
eye  ?  "  asked  Smaly. 

"Yes,"  said  the  Crow, 
"  only  one  eye,  so  she  sees 
only  one  side  of  men,  birds, 
and  things." 

"  What  does  she  live 
on  ? "  asked  Redy,  with  a 
woman's  interest  in  practical 
matters. 

The  Crow  replied,  "  Oh, 
on  candy  and  caterpillars  and 
sweets    and   flies,  just  as 
you  and  I  do." 

"  I  don't,"  said  Smaly. 

'  Nor  I,"  said  Redy. 

The    Crow    gazed    at 
them  with  some  disgust. 

"  No,  I    suppose   you 

live   on    SUet,   mutton    fat,  THE  MOTHER  OF  THE  CROW 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 


"  SHE  SEES  ONLY  ONE  SIDE  OF  MEN,  BIRDS,  AND  THINGS  " 


and  oil,"   he  replied,   and   once  again  turned   his 
back. 


Again  Redy  tried  to  detain  him  ;  but  this  time 
the  Crow  said  he  must  leave  because  he  had  some- 
thing to  write  in  his  diary. 


THESE  CREATURES  DID  NOT  RESEMBLE  ANYTHING  THAT 
REDY  AND  SMALY  HAD  SEEN  UP  TO  THEN 

Page  19 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

Smaly  asked  again  why  they  could  not  have 
three  sweet  little  girls. 

Putting  on  his  spectacles  the  Crow  replied, 
"  Because  there  aren't  any." 


33 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Short-Legged  Man  with  the  musical  voice  :  Smaly  and 
Redy  again  declare  they  are  travelling  to  find  three  little  girls  : 
Papylick  puts  Smaly  and  Redy  in  two  boats  made  out  of  nut- 
shells. 

AT    this    moment    a  short-legged    little    man 
came   up    to   them,   upon   whose   wig   was 
perched  a  little  round   hat  trimmed  with   a 
single  rose.    A  box  hung   at   his   side,  and  upon 
this  box  was  inscribed  the  word  "  SOY.'^ 

The  Short-Legged  Man  had  a  voice  so  faint  it 
was  almost  a  whisper.  It  was  as  musical  and  delicate 
as  a  fiddle  heard  playing  from  a  great  distance.  This 
little  man  whispered  : 

"  What  do  we  know 
About  boys  and  girls  ? 
They  have  no  feathers  nor  wings, 
They  are  made  of  marzipan, 
They  have  no  claws  nor  beak, 
They  are  everything  that  is  sweet." 

Smaly  and  Redy  replied  at  once  : 

"  We  wish  to  have  three  girls, 
Fine,  sweet,  pink,  and  good. 
They  shall  have  more  pudding  than  they  like, 
And  a  green,  green,  and  rosy  garden." 

The  Short-Legged  Man  said,  "  It  won't  do." 
34 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Redy. 

"  Because  they  should  have  three  green,  green, 
and  rosy  gardens." 

"  They  shall  have,"  said  both  the  little  man  and 
his  wife. 

"  It  still  won't  do,"  said  the  Short-Legged  Man 

"  Why  ? ' 

"  Because  they  can't  leave  this 
country." 

There  was  a  sad  moment  whilst 
Smaly   and   Redy    thought    of  the 
little   white  house    and   the    three 
bedrooms.    Then  they  answered 
together  : 

"  We'll    make    their   gardens 
here." 

"  Come  and  talk  to  the  Chief," 
said  the  Short-Legged  Man. 

But  Redy  was  hungry  and  so 
tired  she  could  not  walk.  The  Crow, 
instead  of  helping,  flew  away.  He 
hadn't  really  got  to  write  anything 
in  a  diary,  but  he  had  to  carry  a 
girl  called  Fritilla  to  the  tennis- 
ground,  where^a  lot  of  young  peo- 
ple were  going  to  play  tennis. 

Fritilla  was  a  pretty,  fair  girl 
with  green  eyes,  whom  the  Crow 
had  to  look  after.  She  was  one  of 
the  three  daughters  of  the  Prisoner, 
of  whom  I  will  tell  you  later.  THE  SHORT-LEGGED  MAN 

35 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

But  the  Short-Legged  Man  took  pity  on  Redy, 
and  he  shouted  with  his  delicious  voice  out  of  his 
froglike  mouth,  "  Papylick  ! '  and  this  name  was 
repeated  as  long  as  the  Short-Legged  Man  did  not 
put  his  spoonlike  finger  on  his  lips. 


Papylick  arrived  with  his  name  written  on  his 
boots,  which  were  yellow  as  toffee, 
and  had  no  laces.  This  Papylick  was 
made  of  slices  of  different  coloured  cake, 
and  he,  too,  carried  a  box  with  the 
word  "  SOY '  inscribed  upon  it,  a 
word  which  began  to  interest  Smaly, 
though  he  was  determined  not  to  betray 
his  interest. 

Papylick  had  a  nut  in  one  hand, 
and  opening  it  he  put  Redy  inside 
and  shut  it  up  again. 

Smaly,  too,  was  tired,  and  think- 
ing it  much  better  for  him  also  to 
be  carried,  he  said  : 

"  Papylick,  my  dear  Papylick," 
and  immediately  shut  his  mouth 
again  with  the  first  finger  of  his  left 
hand. 

Papylick  opened  another  nut^and 
placed    Smaly    inside j  it,   then    the 
Short-Legged  Man  put^both  nuts  in 
his  pocket. 
PAPYLICK  Now  Smaly  and  Redy  could  not 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

see  the  country  they  were  being  carried  through 
because  the  nuts  were  closed  ;  but  Papylick  had 
thought  of  this,  and  so  the  landscapes  were  painted 
complete  in  every  detail  inside  the  nuts. 

But  Smaly  and  Redy,  instead  of  admiring  these 
landscapes,  soon  discovered  they  were  painted  with 
delicious  sweetstuffs  such  as  they  had  seen  in  the 
jars  and  pots  of  the  Confectioner. 

So  they  licked  off  the  landscapes. 


37 


CHAPTER  IV 

Smaly  and  Redy  are  not  well  received  :  They  are  thought  to  be 
made  of  painted  cardboard  :  How  the  Despoiler  fell  into  the 
water  and  left  a  foot  behind  him  :  Mistigris  sticks  a  fish-bone 
into  the  back  of  the  Despoiler  :  Judgment  is  passed  on  the  two 
strangers  :  They  will  be  banished  at  nightfall  :  The  walls  of  the 
three  gardens  are  discussed. 

THE  two  rulers  of  this  country  were  the  Chief 
Contractor  and  the  Despoiler.  On  arriving 
at  the  town  where  the  rulers  lived,  Redy 
and  Smaly  could  hear  a  hundred  bells  ringing 
out  crystal  chimes.  These  bells  were  made  of 
coloured  sugar  and  were  hung  in  campaniles  of 
barley-sugar,  whose  domes  were  made  of  gilded 
crusts. 

When  the  bells  left  off  ringing,  a  beautiful  song 
arose,  and  each  person  who  sang  it  had  a  voice  as 
sweet  as  that  of  the  Short-Legged  Man  or  of  Papylick. 

"  We  must  have  arrived  for  the  midday  prayer 
of  the  Wigs,"  said  Smaly  and  Redy  to  themselves 
in  their  nuts. 

Before  very  long  Papylick  and  the  Short-Legged 
Man  arrived  at  the  house  where  the  Chief  Contractor 
lived  and  went  into  the  great  kitchen. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Chief  Contractor,  coming  forward 
to  meet  them,  "  what  have  you  brought  me  ?  " 

38 


OPENING  THE  NUTS  AND  DISPLAYING  THE  Two  LITTLE  PEOPLE 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  A  mere  nothing,"  replied  Papylick,  opening 
the  nuts  and  displaying  the  two  little  people,  who, 
jumping  out,  became  their  normal  size  once  more. 

"  They  are  two  suet-eaters,"  said  the  Short- 
Legged  Man  apologetically,  as  he  made  Smaly  and 


LEADING  BY  THE  HAND  THE  CHOCOLATE 
GRUB 

Redy  sit  down  upon  two  charming  seats  made  of 
painted  wax. 

There  were  more  than  a  hundred  of  these  seats 
round  the  enormous  kitchen,  each  occupied  by  some 
noted  Wig. 

Smaly  and  Redy  soon  recognized  the  Crow,  and 
40 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

the  next  moment  they  saw  the  Confectioner  come 
in,  apparently  having  quite  got  over  his  trouble  and 
leading  by  the  hand  the  Chocolate  Grub  who  was 
the  doorkeeper. 

The  Chief  Contractor  and  the  Despoiler  gazed 
attentively  at  Smaly  and  his  wife  ;  but  as  at  this 
moment  dinner  was  brought  in,  the  two  little  humans 
were  forgotten  in  the  graver  interest  of  the  banquet. 
The  eating  in  this  country  was  a  serious  affair 
attended  with  many  rites. 

...... 

The  banquet  began.  This  solemn  feast  took 
place  every  day.  As  soon  as  the  guests  had  taken 
their  seats,  each  picked  up  a  little  slate,  which  hung 
by  the  side  of  his  chair,  a  slate  made  of  chocolate 
framed  in  well-cookedjpastry,  and  each  be- 
gan to  write  his  menu  upon  his  slate.  No 
matter  what  he  wrote,  whether  it  were  eggs 
or  roast  larks,  or  whatever  it  were,  the 
thing  at  once  appeared:  the 
birds  with  their  legs  encased 
in  cutlet  frills,  and  the  eggs 
running  along  on  two  little  feet,  and 
carrying  a  spoon  and  salt-cellar  in 
either  hand. 

Redy  and  Smaly  could  not  help 
thinking  that  all  this  was  rather 
alarming ;  they  were  not  used  to  see- 
ing s;ices  of  toast  arrive  running  like^ 

.  ,  THE  BIRDS  WITH  THEIR 

Dig  Spiders.  LEGS  ENCASED  IN 

Careering  busily  about  the  kitchen      CUTLET  FRILLS 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

were  little  pigs  made  of  marzipan.  They  were  gentle 
and  pretty  pigs,  who  smelt  deliciously  of  aromatic 
herbs,  and  each  had  a  knife  and  fork  stuck  in  his 
back. 

When  each  guest  had  cut  as  much  marzipan  as 
he  wanted  he  replaced  the  knife  and  fork,  and  the 
little  pig  at  once  ran  merrily  on  to  the  next  guest 
without  turning  so  much  as  one  of  its  marzipan 
hairs. 

As  to  the  tarts,  they  arrived  flying  like  sparrows 
or  miniature  aeroplanes. 


Redy  also  was  presented  with  a  slate,  and  she 
copied  upon  it  the  signs  which  she  saw  the  Chief 
Contractor  make  upon  his.  By  this  means  she  par- 
took of  plum  tart,  oranges,  and  marzipan, 
all  of  which  she  shared  with  Smaly,  who 
was  not  so  quick  as  she  was  at  copying  the 
writing  of  the  next-door  neighbour. 

Certainly  it  was  a  most  splen- 
did feast ;  and  as  to  the  service, 
as  one  sees,  it  was  conducted  in 
a  very  novel  fashion.  Such  was 
a  banquet  in  this  country,  though 
on  more  ordinary  occasions  the 
Wigs  had  to  go  to  their  pro- 
visions instead  of  the  provisions 
coming  to  them. 


THE  EGGS  RUNNING  ALONG 

42 


The    feast    over,    the    Wigs 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

dipped  their  hands  in  finger-bowls,  which  consisted 
of  the  halves  of  melons  scooped  out  and  filled  with 
rose-water.  The  Wigs  all  appeared  very  happy,  their 


THEY  WERE  GENTLE  AND  PRETTY  PIGS 

cheeks  were  flushed,  their  little  amethyst-coloured 
eyes  shone  with  satisfaction,  the  air  was  filled  with 
a  delicious  scent  of  fruit. 

"  It   seems    to    me    there    is   an   extraordinary 

43 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

smell  of  suet  here/'  said  the  Chief  Contractor,  sud- 
denly darting  an  unpleasant  look  at  Smaly  and  his 
wife. 

"  For  my  part,"  said  the  Despoiler,  whose  whole 
person  from  his  nose  to  his  feet,  which  were  flatter 
than  pancakes,  expressed  extreme  suspicion — "  for 
my  part,  what  I  smell  is  painted  and  varnished  card- 


A  MOST  SPLENDID  FEAST 

board."  And  he,  too,  fixed  Smaly  and  Redy  with 
his  eyes. 

All  the  Wigs  began  to  laugh,  their  large,  amiable 
frogs'  mouths  expanded,  and  they  crossed  their 
fingers  under  their  chins,  which  is  in  this  country 
a  great  sign  of  mirth.  They  laughed  because  they 
all  knew  quite  well  that  the  Despoiler  himself  was 
only  made  of  cardboard.  He  was  certainly  very  well 
covered  with  jams  and  sweetmeats  ;  but  he  was 
cardboard  underneath  for  all  that. 

There  was  a  story  that  one  day  the  Despoiler 
had  found  himself  beside  a  pool  which  lay  between 
his  house  and  the  great  kitchen  of  the  Chief  Con- 
44 


THE  DESPOILER 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

tractor.  The  Despoiler  had  wanted  to  capture  a 
flying-fish  made  of  red  marzipan,  which  was  feeding 
upon  a  laurel-tree  beside  the  pool.  He  leaned 
forward  too  far  towards  the  tree  and  fell  into  the 
water,  which  was  none  the  less  wet  for  being  scented 


WHICH  is  IN  THIS  COUNTRY  A  GREAT 
SIGN  OF  MIRTH 

with  orange  flowers.  The  birds  which  lived  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pool  brought  him  up  to  the  surface 
once  more.  He  was  saved  ;  but  a  terrible  thing 
had  happened  to  him.  Not  one  spot  of  jam  re- 
mained upon  his  cardboard. 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

He  fled  hastily. 

He  had  left  one  of  his  feet  behind  him  in  the 
water,  and  the  Crow,  taking  off  his  spectacles,  fished 
it  up.  Two  kindly  Wigs  ran  after  the  Despoiler  with 
his  cardboard  foot. 

The  Despoiler,  although  he  was  very  clever,  was 
also  very  vain,  and  pretended  that  it  was  not  his 
foot  at  all ;  but  only  the  sole  of  one  of  his  shoes  ; 


HE  FLED  HASTILY 


but  all  the  Wigs  knew  perfectly  well  that  it  was 
really  his  foot. 


While  the  Wigs  were  still  laughing  at  the  expense 
of  the  Despoiler,  Smaly  saw  Mistigris,  a  Wig  who 
moved  with  an  extremely  cat-like  tread,  strike  the 
Despoiler  from  behind  with  a  long  fish-bone,  and 
transfix  his  insensible  cardboard  back. 

The    Chief    Contractor,    who   saw    what    had 

47 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

happened,  rattled  the  castanets  which  he  wore 
on  his  left  knee,  and  a  young  Stork  dressed  in 
the  uniform  of  a  fireman  ran  up  behind  the 

Despoiler,  and  by  the  aid 
of  long  pincers  withdrew 
the  fish-bone.  This  was  evi- 
dently quite  a  usual  occur- 
rence. 

The  Chief  Contractor 
picked  up  one  of  the  masks 
that  hung  round  his  neck, 
a  mask  which  was  called 
"  Dignity,"  and  placed  it 
over  his  face.  When  he  had 
worn  this  for  a  minute  he 
let  it  swing  like  a  monocle, 
and  put  in  its  place  a 
mask  called  "  Severity." 

"  Let  ever}7  one  take  his 
place,"  he  cried  in  a  stern 
voice. 

The  Wigs  gathered  round 
in  a  circle,  all  looking  to- 
wards the  door. 

".You're  making  a  mis- 
take, old  man,"  whispered  the  Despoiler  familiarly. 
"  The  arrangement  was  that  we  were  going  to  see 
a  review  of  your  soldiers." 

"  We  are  going  to  hold  a  council  instead,"  shouted 
the  Chief  Contractor,  and  drops  of  perspiration,  big 
and  pink  as  strawberries,  rolled  down  his  mask. 


MlSTIGRIS 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

Suddenly  he  snatched  it  off  and  replaced  it  with 
a  mask  which  signified  "  Anger." 

The  assembly  trembled.  There  was  a  sound  as 
of  shuddering  macaroni  or  of  dominoes  rattling  with 
fear. 

"  Reckybecky,  you  are  out  of  line  !  "  cried  the 
Chief  Contractor  from  beneath  his  mask  of  saffron 
and  flame  colour.  "  Papylick  and  Mistigris,  pay 
attention  !  Is  it  possible  that  already  the  intrusion 
here  of  two  rascals  made  of  suet  is  going  to  corrupt 
you  all  and  reduce  you  to  anarchy  ?  ): 

Mistigris  and  Papylick  came  running  up  with  a 
cord,  and,  each  taking  an  end,  they  held  it  in  front  of 
the  row  of  Wigs  to  keep  them  straight. 
Those  Wigs  whose  feet  stuck  out  too 
far  drew  them  back,  and  those  whose 
feet  did  not  come  out  far  enough 
advanced  them  until  every  one's  toes 
touched  the  cord  and  made  a  straight 
line. 

"  You  can  roll  the  cord  up,"  com- 
manded the  master  ;  then  he  turned  to 
Smaly.  "  Tell  the  truth,"  he  demanded, 
"  are  you  made  of  suet  ?  ' 

At  this  moment  Papylick  and  the 
Young  Stork  gave  a  cry  of  horror. 
They  had  discovered  that  Smaly  and 
Redy  had  licked  the  painted  landscapes 
off  the  insides  of  the  nuts  in  which 
they  had  been  transported.  THE  YOUNG  STORK 

D  49 


THE   CITY 


CURIOUS 

of   indignation, 


Every  one  uttered  cries  of  indignation,  and 
pressed  forward  so  that  their  feet  had  to  be  brought 
to  order  again  with  the  help  of  the  cord. 

1  The  law  is  clear.  These  people  made  of  card- 
board and  suet  must  be  banished  at  once,"  said 
the  Despoiler,  who  did  not  wear  a  mask,  but  could 


EVERY  ONE  UTTERED  CRIES  OF  INDIGNATION 

roll  his  eyes  and  open  his  mouth  as  much  as  he 
liked. 

"  The  sun  is  at  its  height.  It's  hot  enough  to 
bake  tarts,"  said  the  Confectioner.  "  If  these  two 
people  go  out  now  the  sun  will  melt  them,  and  our 
beautiful  lawns  will  be  covered  with  fat." 

"  Horror  !  "  cried  several  of  the  Wigs. 

"  Then  they  must  stay  here  until  the  sun  has 
set,"  decided  the  Chief  Contractor,  and  putting  on 
a  mask  called  "  The  Listener >:  he  continued : 

50 


"  YOU  CAN  ROLL  THE  CORD  " 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  Now  tell  me  what  they  want,  these  disturbing 
people  whom  you  have  brought  here.  Tell  me 
everything  that  you  know,  O  Short-Legged  Man." 

But  Smaly  and  Redy  spoke  together,  and  they 
said  : 

"  We  wish  to  have  three  girls. 
Fine,  sweet,  pink  and  good. 
They  shall  have  more  pudding  than  they  like, 
And  a  green,  green " 

Here  Redy  stopped  and  said  : 

"  .  .  .  each  a  green  garden." 

The  Chief  Contractor  replied,  "  Won't  do." 
The  Crow  added,  "  Because  there  aren't  any." 
"  There  are  the  three  daughters  of  the  Prisoner," 
said  the  Chief  Contractor  ;   "  but  they  can't  go  out 
of  the  country." 

"  Look  here,"  said  the  Mother  of  the  Crow,  who 
had  just  been  brought  in  seated  in  her  oyster-shell, 
"  why  shouldn't  this  man  and  his  wife  live  just 
behind  the  wall  of  the  country,  then  they  will  be 
able  to  look  at  the  Prisoner's  daughters." 

"  That  won't  do,"  said  the  Chief  Contractor, 
"  the  girls  mustn't  speak  to  each  other.  They  don't 
know,  none  of  them  knows,  that  their  father  was 
beheaded,  and  if  they  spoke  to  each  other  about  it 
they  would  all  know." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  the  Mother  of  the  Crow, 
preparing  to  be  very  wise,  "  they  can  surround  each 
garden  by  a  wall  and  keep  the  girls  separate," 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

So  it  was  decided  that  the  little  man  and  his 
wife  were  to  be  banished  after  sunset ;  but  they 
could  live  beyond  the  wall,  and  the  girls  should 


THE  CHIEF  CONTRACTOR  REPLIED 

each  have  a  green  garden  surrounded  by  a  wall  of 
its  own. 

These  walls  were  to  be  quite  low  to  suit  the 
stature  of  the  young  girls,  and  each  year  the  walls 

53 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

were  to  be  raised  as  the  girls  grew  taller.  Thus 
the  girls  would  not  be  able  to  see  each  other  or  be 
able  to  confide  to  each  other  indiscretions  on  a 


CHILDREN  WERE  BUILT  OF  MUCH  FEWER  SLICES 
OF  CAKE  THAN  THE  GROWN-UPS 

thousand  and  one  subjects  of  which  they  knew 
nothing. 

Here  the  Chief  Contractor  again  made  a  very 
strong  objection. 

"  It's  important,"  he  said,  "  that  every  year  on 
their  birthdays  we  should  insert  a  slice  of  cake  in 
these  little  girls  so  that  they  should  grow  tall  enough 
to  suit  their  age." 

54 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

In  the  somewhat  embarrassed  silence  which 
followed,  Smaly  discovered  why  the  Wigs  had  such 
short  legs  and  such  long  bodies. 

"  Of  course,  that  is  it,"  he  said  to  himself  ;  "  each 
year  on  their  birthdays  somebody  adds  another  tart 
or  slice  of  cake  to  them,  and  they  grow  taller." 


THESE  CREATURES  WILL  EAT  THE  TOP  OFF  THE  WALLS 

He  glanced  out  of  the  window  and  saw  that  this 
was  indeed  so,  that  the  children  were  built  of  much 
fewer  slices  of  cake  than  the  grown-ups. 

The  Chief  Contractor  now  made  a  second  objec- 
tion. 

"  But  what  shall  we  do,"  he  said,  "  when  the 
garden  wall  of  the  eldest  girl  grows  to  be  five  feet 
high,  for  you  mustn't  forget  that  that  is  the  height 
at  which  the  fishes  and  lizards  fly,  so  the  wall  will 

55 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

never  be  able  to  be  higher  than  five  feet,  for  every 
night  these  creatures  will  eat  the  top  off  the  walls." 

It  was  again  the  Mother  of  the  Crow  who  saved 
the  situation.  The  dark  hole  in  which  she  wore 
her  eye  when  her  son  was  not  carrying  it  round  his 
neck  seemed  full  of  intelligence.  She  placed  her 
finger  upon  her  brow  without  moving  her  arm 
(for  the  simple  reason  that  she  did  not  possess  one), 
and  said  : 

"  When  we  can  no  longer  make  the  walls  higher, 
then  we  will  sink  the  gardens  as  much  as  is  needful." 

All  the  same  the  Wigs  could  not  accept  this  as 


ANGER 

a  solution,  for  it  seemed  to  them  that  men  grew 
upwards  and  not  towards  the  ground,  that  is  to  say, 
from  the  head  and  not  from  the  feet. 

The  Chief  Contractor  gave  the  matter  due 
thought. 

"  We  will  place  the  annual  slice  of  cake  exactly 

56 


IT  SEEMED  TO  THEM  THAT  MEN  GREW  UPWARDS  AND  NOT 
TOWARDS  THE  GROUND 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

in  the  middle  of  the  girls/'  he  announced, 


u 


and 


thus  we  will  only  have  to  sink  the  level  of  the  gardens 
a  little,  and  raise  the  top  of  the  walls  a  little." 

But  since  nobody  seemed  quite  ready  to  accept 
this  as  a  solution,  the  Chief  Contractor  again  placed 
upon  his  face  the  mask  called  "  Anger,"  and  every 
one  held  their  tongues  from  perplexity. 


SOME  VERY  ELEGANT  MICE 

Happily  at  this  moment  the  most  charming  music 
was  heard  upon  the  air.  One  could  detect  the  scent 
of  this  music  with  one's  nose,  and  taste  it  with  one's 
tongue.  One  could  see  it  floating  out  from  various 
little  boxes  that  some  very  elegant  mice  were  opening 
and  shutting  with  much  delicacy  and  care. 

"  It's  the  review  of  the  troops  beginning,"  ex- 
claimed the  Young  Stork  in  a  loud  voice  as  he 
tweaked  the  hundredth  fish-bone  out  of  the  insensible 
back  of  the  Despoiler. 


CHAPTER  V 

Redy  and  Smaly  watch  the  review  of  the  troops  :  Smaly  and  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow  discourse  about  soldiers  :  The  Chief  Con- 
tractor distributes  the  food,  and  the  Wigs  pass  through  a  curious 
little  door  :  The  Soy  powder  makes  the  provisions  grow. 

THE  Wigs  now  began  to  form  themselves  into 
a  semicircle,  the  smallest  nearest  the  door, 
and   the   others  standing  behind   them    so 
that  they  could  see  over  their  heads. 

It  was  a  half-holiday  for  Laptitza,  the  second 
daughter  of  the  Prisoner,  and  Papylick  brought  her 
in  so  that  she  could  see  the  review  of  the  troops. 

Laptitza  was  shown  to  a  low  chair  in  the  midst 
of  the  semicircle  formed  by  the  Wigs. 

Laptitza  was  so  beautiful  that  it  would  not  have 
been  possible  to  have  painted  her  portrait. 


The  soldiers  arrived  in  Indian  file,  one  behind 
the  other. 

"  There  are  a  hundred  and  two  of  them,"  an- 
nounced the  Chief  Contractor,  looking  furtively  at 
Smaly.  He  shot  this  look  through  the  eyeholes  of 
the  mask  which  he  had  just  slipped  on  and  which 
appeared  to  be  made  in  two  halves,  for  while  one 

59 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 


ONE  HALF  EXPRESSED  SEVERE 

AUTHORITY,  THE  OTHER  WAS 

ALL  GENTLENESS 


half  expressed  severe 
authority,  the  other  was 
all  gentleness. 

"  One  hundred  and 
two/'  repeated  Smaly 
in  a  perfectly  expres- 
sionless voice. 

"  My  brother  used 
to  have  only  one  hun- 
dred/' said  the  De- 
spoiler,  "  but  I  made 
him  understand  that 
they  could  not  possibly 
march  until  they  had 
one  at  the  head  and  one 
at  the  tail,  and  that 
makes  one  hundred  and 
two."  It  was  now  the 
Despoiler's  turn  to  look 
slyly  at  the  two  little 
human  beings  and  see 
how  they  took  his  re- 
mark. 


The  soldiers  came  on  in  a  straight  line  towards 
the  great  door  of  the  kitchen.  They  had  an  extra- 
ordinarily complicated  method  of  marching,  taking 
two  steps  in  advance  and  then  one  backwards,  and 
this  was  made  all  the  more  difficult  for  them  because 
discipline  enjoined  that  each  man  should  place  his 
60 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

feet  accurately  in  the  footsteps  of  the  leader.  This 
man's  feet,  by  an  ingenious  arrangement,  left  white 
marks  in  the  ground. 

When  the  leading  soldier  arrived  at  the  door, 
since  it  was  not  permitted  him  to  turn  his  back  upon 
such  an  august  assembly,  he  had  to  take  his  departure 
marching  backwards,  and  so  had  all  those  who 
followed  after  him.  From  that  moment  there  were 
two  long  lines  of  soldiers,  one  going  forwards,  the 
other  going  backwards  ;  but  all  the  soldiers  had 
their  noses,  their  chests,  their  knees,  and  their  big 
toes  pointing  in  the  same  direction — the  door  of 
the  kitchen. 

When  the  review  was  over,  the  Chief  Contractor 
was  so  pleased  that  he  decided  that  they  must  have 
a  similar  review  every  week.  He  had  a  fence  erected 
round  the  traces  left  by  the  soldiers'  feet,  so  that 
they  would  not  be  effaced,  but  could  be  used  again 
each  week. 

Just  as  this  was  finished  Smaly  noticed  that 
the  eye  of  the  Mother  of  the  Crow  was  regarding 
him  steadfastly.  Suddenly  the  eye  winked  as  though 
to  signal  him  to  approach.  Smaly  began  to  walk 
towards  the  eye  ;  but  it  occurred  to  him  on  reflection 
that  it  was  towards  the  Mother  of  the  Crow7  herself 
that  he  ought  to  turn  his  steps,  and  not  towards 
her  eye,  which,  after  all,  was  merely  hung  in  a 
locket  round  the  neck  of  her  son.  Therefore  he 
turned  and  approached  the  oyster-shell,  where  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow  was  seated. 

The  Wigs  were  no  longer  taking  any  notice  of 

61 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

him;  they  were  eating  ices,  and  chatting  together 
in  their  mellifluous  voices.  They  had  ail  put  on 
thick  gloves,  for  the  warmth  of  the  fresh  pastry  of 


HE  DECIDED  THAT  THEY  MUST  HAVE  A  SIMILAR  REVIEW 
EVERY  WEEK 

which  their  hands  were  composed  would  have  melted 
the  ices. 


62 


None  of  them  really  knows  what  a  soldier  is,: 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

said  the    Mother  of  the   Crow  in  a  low  voice  to 
Smaly. 

*\Oh,"  said  Smaly  ;  "  but  you  know,  don't  you  ?  " 

"^Certainly  I  know.  Soldiers  are  beings  who  cut 
up  the  meat  that  men  like  you  eat,  who  hack  down 
big  trees,  who  kill  the  beautiful  horned  animals  for 
food.  You  see  I  know  perfectly  well  what  a  soldier 
is,  and  one  can  always  tell  a  real  soldier  because  he 
carries  big  knives,  axes,  saws,  razors,  and  scythes." 

"  H'm  !  Not  at  all," 
contradicted  Smaly  with 
the  air  of  one  beginning 
a  lecture.  "  A  soldier  is 
a  man  who  fights  other 
soldiers." 

"What?'  asked  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow. 
"  How  is  that  possible 
when  they  are  both  the 
same  thing  ?  ' 

"  I  assure  you  that  it 
is  so,"  replied  Smaly. 

The  Mother  of  the 
Crow  reflected  ;  but  catch- 
ing sight  of  the  Wigs,  who 
were  putting  the  soldiers 
back  in  their  boxes  at  the 
end  of  the  courtyard,  she 
began  again. 

"He,"  she  said,  nod- 
ding  her  head  towards  the 

63 


THEY  HAD  ALL  PUT  ON 
GLOVES 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

Chief  Contractor,  "  has  no  idea  of  what  a  soldier 
is.  He  has  never  seen  one  excepting  in  a  painting 
that  a  cousin  sent  him.  It  is  a  painting  that  repre- 
sents a  court  in  full  dress.  There  are  several  soldiers 
with  knives  standing  round  the  cousin,  who  is  the 
President  of  the  Republic  of  Pasenipus.  They  wear 


WlGS,  WHO  WERE  PUTTING  THE  SOLDIERS  BACK  IN  THEIR 
BOXES 


breastplates  of  gold  to  prevent  the  blood  of  the 
animals  they  kill  soiling  their  fine  coats.  The 
Chief  Contractor  thought  that  these  breastplates 
must  be  eggs,  and,  as  you  see,  these  soldiers  are 
just  eggs  with  legs.  The  Chief  Contractor  has  had 
oxeye  daisies  fastened  to  their  heels,  because  in  the 
picture  there  were  golden  daisies  fastened  to  the 
boots  of  the  soldiers." 


LAPTITZA  AND  PAPYLICK 

Page  59 


I 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  PASENIPUS 
E 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  Those  must  have  been  spurs  ! '  explained 
Smaly  absently,  his  attention  being  distracted  by  a 
curious  rattling  noise  from  afar  off. 

"  I  don't  know  what  spurs  are,"  admitted  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow  ;  "  but  the  Chief  Contractor 
doesn't  even  know  what  the  shield  is  that  each  soldier 
carries  to  protect  his  face  from  the  horns  of  the 
animals.  He  doesn't  even  know  that  soldiers  carry 
knives,"  she  added,  "  but  has  put  in  his  soldiers' 
hands  flowers  with  long  stalks.  He  doesn't  know 
what  a  helmet  is,  for  he  thought  that  soldiers  must 
be  a  sort  of  bird  with  a  plume  on  their  heads." 

Smaly  didn't  mind.  He  had  very  much  admired 
the  feathered  heads,  and,  above  all,  he  admired  the 
shields,  which  were  made  of  pearly  shell-fish,  but 
before  the  review  the  Wigs  had  eaten  the  contents 
of  these  beautiful  shields  lest  the  shell-fish  should 
all  have  hidden  their  faces  from  fright. 


When  the  Wigs  had  placed  the  soldiers  in  the 
boxes  the  Young  Stork  and  Papylick  came  towards 
Smaly.  The  Stork  took  charge  of  the  Mother  of 
the  Crow  to  conduct  her  back  to  her  house,  which 
was  in  a  cosy  nook  in  a  great  tree  of  coral. 

Smaly  and  Redy  now  wished  to  go,  but  Papylick 
informed  them  that  neither  the  sun  nor  moon  having 
yet  set,  it  was  not  possible,  and  so  the  little  husband 
and  wife  sat  down  on  their  heels  in  the  doorway  of 
the  kitchen. 

The  rattling  sound  had  now  come  nearer,  and 
66 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

the  Chief  Contractor  appeared  in  the  public  square 
surrounded  by  Wigs  pushing  wheelbarrows  and 
turning  rattles. 


TO  CONDUCT  HER  BACK  TO  HER  HOUSE,  WHICH  WAS  IN  A^ 

NOOK  IN  A  GREAT  TREE  OF  CORAL 


These  Wigs  laid  the  rattles  in  the  wheelbarrows, 
and  everything  became  quiet  once  more. 

Then  the  Chief  Contractor  advanced  boldly  into 
the  full  sunshine,  and  the  Wigs,  who  watched  him 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

put  one  foot  in  front  of  the  other,  prepared  also  to 
advance. 

The  Chief  Contractor  had  made  a  few  changes 
in  his  costume.  He  still  wore  his  big  ring  and  his 
box  marked  "  Soy  "  ;  but  a  huge  hat  now  covered 
his  head.  Little  shelves  were  hung  all  about  his 
person,  and  on  these  and  on  his  hat  were  placed 
pots  and  jars,  cakes  and  flagons.  He  had  many 
more  than  the  Confectioner,  who,  after  all,  was 
only  his  lieutenant.  He  carried  a  quiverful  of 
ebony  knives,  and  an  urn  from  which  stuck  out 
long  bamboo  spoons.  His  masks  were  slung  from 
the  end  of  a  stick.  He  touched  his  lips  with  his 
magic  ring,  then  he  agitated  the  castanets  which 
hung  at  his  knee,  and  cried  : 

"  Food,  food  !  Come  in  by  the  door,  come  in 
by  the  door,"  and  he  shut  his  mouth  up  again 
quickly  with  his  left  thumb. 

"  I  don't  see  a  door,  or  even  a  place  for  a  door. 
There  isn't  anything,"  said  Smaly  to  Papylick. 

"  There  it  is,"  said  Redy,  pointing  towards  a 
little  door  which  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  square. 
"  There's  no  wall,  but  that  is  a  door.  See,  it's 
open,"  she  added. 

"  But  what's  the  good  of  that  door,"  cried  Smaly 
to  the  Chocolate  Grub,  which  had  come  up  beside 
him  and  was  waiting  with  the  others  to  go  and  get 
his  provisions. 

"  I  know  nothing  about  doors,"  said  the  Grub 
sharply.  "  You  must  ask  some  specialist  in  such 
matters ;  some  one  who  knows  about  draughts  and 
68 


THE  CONFECTIONER 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

opening  and  shutting.    Some  one,  in  fact,  who  looks 
like  a  doorkeeper,"  and  the  Grub  withdrew  proudly. 


"  NEVERTHELESS  IT'S  so  NARROW  THAT  ONLY  ONE  PERSON  CAN 

GO  THROUGH  AT  A  TIME  " 

Smaly  realized  that  he  had  been  lacking  in  tact 
to  mention  the  word  "  door  >!>  to  the  Grub,  who 
always   pretended   that   he  was   not   a   doorkeeper. 
Papylick  explained  to  the  two  little  people  : 
70 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

"  If  there  weren't  a  door  the  people  would  simply 
tear  the  Chief  Contractor  to  bits  to  get  at  the  food." 

'  But "  began  Smaly. 

"  And  anyway  the  door  was  open,"  said  Redy. 
"  That's  true,"   replied   Papylick,   "  but   never- 


THE  SONG  WENT  ON 

theless  it's  so  narrow  that  only  one  person  can  go 
through  at  a  time." 

And,  indeed,  each  Wig  was  passing  singly  through 
the  little  door  to  receive  in  his  pot  or  pan  a  drop  of 
gooseberry  jam  or  a  morsel  of  cake  or  apple,  or  one 
or  two  cherry-stones. 

The  Chief  Contractor  served  out  his  goods  with 
his  bamboo  spoons.  When  the  Wigs  were  served 
they  made  their  way  in  single  file  towards  two  posts 
which  stood  in  the  square,  and  passed  very  carefully 

71 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

between  them  so  as  not  to  spill  any  of  their  precious 
provisions. 

And  every  one  had  received  from  the  Contractor 
a  little  powder  in  a  box  like  a  small  snuff-box  labelled 
"  Soy." 

•  ••••• 

Back  in  their  kitchen  the  Wigs  sprinkled  a  pinch 
of  the  Soy  powder  on  their  crumbs  of  cake  and 
spots  of  jam,  and  then  taking  hands  danced  slowly 
round  the  table,  singing,  while  the  little  crumbs  of 
food  began  to  grow  bigger  and  bigger.  The  frag- 
ments of  cake  became  whole  cakes,  the  spots  of  jam 
swelled  to  marvellous  jellies,  and  the  cherry-stones 
became  baskets  full  of  the  most  succulent  fruits. 
When  they  had  finished  their  song  they  did  not  shut 
their  mouths  up  again,  thereby  attaining  two  excel- 
lent results — the  song  went  on  and  on  while  they 
could  eat  their  dessert  at  their  ease. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Sugar-Cane  Prison  arrives  :  The  Rats  water  it  with  Soy 
fluid  to  keep  the  canes  growing  as  fast  as  the  Prisoner  breaks 
them  down  :  The  time  for  siesta  draws  on,  and  Smaly  and  Redy 
go  into  the  house  of  the  Historian. 

WHILE  the  Wigs  were  in  the  kitchen,  and 
Smaly  and  Redy  were  seated  in  the  doorway 
sharing  Papylick's  provisions,  distant  cries 
rose  upon  the  air.    Smaly  and  Redy  turned  to  gaze 
out  at  the  public  square,  which  was  hot  and  empty  ; 
but  in  a  moment  several  Wigs  arrived    at  the   far 


RUNNING  HARD  WITH  THEIR  LITTLE  SHORT  LEGS 

end,  running  hard  with  their  little  short  legs,  and 
crying  out : 

"  The  prison  has  turned  round,  it's  coming  in 
this  direction." 

The  Chief  Contractor,  who  was  eating  in  the 
kitchen  in  company  with  the  Despoiler,  the  Con- 

73 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

fectioner,  the  Crow,  Mistigris,  the  Stork,  and  various 
other  people,  precipitated  himself  towards  the  door, 
followed  by  the  rest.  Listening  to  their  scraps  of 


SOY  MILL 


conversation  Smaly  gathered  that  the  Wigs  held 
some  stranger  captive,  and  that  this  prisoner  lived 
in  a  perambulating  prison  which  travelled  about 
the  country.  This  astonished  Smaly  very  much,  as, 

74 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

indeed,  it  would  have  astonished  you  had  you  been 
in  his  place.  Even  I,  who  have  seen  many  strange 
things,  was  very  astonished  when  I  first  heard  about  it. 


SOY  RESERVOIR 


The  shouting  grew  nearer,  and  there  appeared 
at  the  far  end  of  the  square  a  forest  of  sugar-canes 
moving  steadily  onwards.  The  canes  reared  up  into 
the  air  like  rockets  which  never  rose  any  higher,  or 

75 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

like  a  field  of  gigantic  corn,  and  they  formed  a  solid 
wall  which  came  ever  nearer  and  nearer. 

The  wall  came  onward  and  hit  against  a  house 
which  stood  in  its  way,  and  mowed  it  down.  The 
sugar-canes  were  far  more  powerful  than  the  pastry 
of  which  the  house  was  composed. 

The  sugar-cane  forest  came  closer,  so  close  that 
Smaly  and  Redy  perceived  how  amongst  the  base 
of  the  canes  there  was  a  multitude  of  Water-Rats 
who  were  busy  watering  the  roots. 

These  Rats  were  all  provided  with  large  mackin- 
toshes, which,  however,  they  took  off  for  greater 
freedom  of  movement  while  they  were  watering. 
They  wore  boots  like  those  you  see  upon  the  men 
who  clean  out  drains,  and  each  Rat  had  upon  its 
head  a  fireman's  helmet  similar  to  that  worn  by 
the  Stork. 

Some  watered  with  a  watering-can,  some  with 
firemen's  hose,  connected  with  reservoirs  shaped 
like  enormous  bottles  of  champagne,  and  mounted 
upon  wheels. 

One  of  the  Rats,  who  wore  a  long  red  feather 
trailing  from  its  helmet,  was  mounted  upon  a  Hare 
whose  pads  were  wrapped  in  linen.  The  Rat  gal- 
loped backwards  and  forwards  upon  the  Hare  from 
the  forest  to  a  big  windmill  marked  "  Soy,"  where 
the  reservoirs  were. 

Still  the  forest  kept  on  advancing  until  the  quiet 
square  was  transformed  into  a  den  of  noise  and 
activity.  The  sugar-canes  grew  higher  and  more 
numerous  every  moment  under  the  influence  of  the 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

water  of  Soy,  which  was  as  productive  as  the  Soy 
powder. 

The  kitchen  was  by  now  emptied  of  everything 
movable  ;  the  Wigs  ran  hither  and  thither  carrying 
away  every  object  that  they  could  lift,  as  people 
move  furniture  when  a  neighbouring  house  is  burn- 
ing ;  only  Smaly  and  Redy  remained,  stupefied 
before  this  moving  forest  which  marched  down 
upon  them. 


CARRYING  AWAY  EVERY  OBJECT  THAT  THEY  COULD  LIFT 

When  it  was  almost  on  them  they  ran  to  one  side, 
and  there,  where  the  sugar-canes  were  less  thick, 
they  could  see  into  the  heart  of  the  forest,  and  they 
saw  crouching  within  it  a  strange-looking  man 
dressed  in  rags.  Little  of  his  face  showed  between 
his  long  hair  and  his  tangled  beard.  He  wore  no 
shoes  ;  but  carried  at  the  end  of  a  string  several 
boxes  of  matches.  Perpetually  he  made  the  same 
rhythmic  gesture  with  his  arms,  and  with  every 
gesture  the  sugar-canes  around  him  broke  as  if  they 
were  made  of  brittle  glass.  His  eyes  stared  straight 

77 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

in  front  of  him,  and  he  seemed  to  be  laughing  to 
himself. 

"  He  is  a  madman/'  said  Redy. 

"  They  have  driven  him  mad,"  replied  Smaly 
in  a  low  voice. 

Smaly  and  Redy  joined  hands.  "  We  ought  to 
save  him/'  they  said  together. 


The  Prisoner  never  ceased  to  break  the  sugar- 
canes,  and  fresh  canes  sprang  up  around  him  also 
without  a  pause. 

Fish  that  had  wings  and  paws  flew  above  the 
forest,  brushing  the  heads  of  the  canes  with  their 
ringed  noses.  Whenever  they  did  this  the  sugar- 
canes  seemed  to  shrivel  up  and  vanish. 

And  thus  the  forest  advanced,  new  canes  spring- 
ing up  ahead,  and  the  old  canes  withering  behind  ; 
but  always  surrounding  the  Prisoner,  no  matter  how 
he  shattered  them. 

Now  these  rings  which  the  Flying-Fish  wore  in 
their  noses  had  been  fixed  there  by  the  Despoiler, 
and  the  rings  worn  by  all  the  Wigs  came  from  the 
same  source  and  served  the  same  purpose,  that  of 
stopping  all  growth.  This  was  how  the  Despoiler 
came  by  his  name,  for  mere  creature  of  insensate 
pasteboard  as  he  was,  he  had  the  power  from  his 
magic  ring  to  arrest  all  life— a  blade  of  grass  in  the 
ground,  or  the  passage  of  a  bird  in  the  air. 

Suddenly  the  Prisoner  paused  in  his  frantic 
toil  and  fell  asleep  like  a  child.  The  rats  also  left 


THE  PRISONER 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

off   their  work   and  wrapped  themselves  in  their 
mackintoshes. 

Smaly  and  Redy  wished  to  attract  the  attention 


THE  PRISONER  NEVER  CEASED  TO  BREAK  THE  SUGAR-CANES 

of  the  Prisoner  ;  but  the  strange  man  slept  on,  and 
they  did  not  dare  speak  to  him  too  loudly,  for  they 
were  afraid  that  he  might  be  quite  mad,  and  also 
they  did  not  know  how  the  Wigs  would  take  inter- 
So 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

ference  with  their  prisoner.  Indeed,  Papylick  and 
the  Young  Stork  had  already  noticed  what  they  were 
trying  to  do,  and  since  the  kitchen  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  passing  of  the  forest  they  now  drew  Smaly 
and  Redy  gently  but  firmly  into  one  of  the  houses 
in  the  square. 

"  This  is  the  house  of  the  Historian,"  said  Papy- 
lick, "  and  here  you  must  stay  until  the  setting  of  the 
sun. 


81 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Flying-Fish  announces  the  hour  of  three,  and  the  World  falls 
asleep  :  The  Hen  makes  six  hard-boiled  eggs  :  Smaly  and  Redy 
begin  to  read  the  manuscript  of  the  Historian. 

SMALY  and  Redy  found  themselves  in  a  room 
that  was  rather  dark  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  sun  was  still  high  in  the  heavens.  There 
were  only  four  windows,  one  placed  so  low  down 
that  the  Wigs,  even  when  seated,  could  observe 
what  passed.  Another,  very  little  higher,  was  for 
the  Wigs  to  look  out  of  when  they  were  standing  on 
their  short  legs.  These  two  windows  had  already 
been  in  existence  when  the  Government  of  the 
country  offered  the  house  to  the  Historian  to  enable 
him  to  write  the  chronicles  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  Historian  put  in  an  indent  asking  for  two 
more  windows,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  them. 
The  first  of  the  new  windows  was  put  alongside  the 
old  one,  which  had  been  for  the  use  of  the  Wigs 
standing  ;  but  this  new  window  was  for  the  Historian 
when  he  was  sitting  down,  as  he  was  twice  the  height 
of  an  ordinary  Wig.  The  fourth  window  was  set 
very  high  to  allow  of  the  Historian  looking  out  on 
the  market  square  as  he  walked  about. 

It  will  be  seen  what  bright  ideas  this  Historian 
Sz 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

had  ;  but  the  result  of  one  of  his  brightest  was  to 
be  seen  in  the  ceiling,  where  there  were  two  circular 
holes,  one  much  bigger  than  the  other. 

The  big  hole  had  been  there  for  a  long  time  and 
had  been  made  to  allow  of  free  exit  and  entry  to  the 
pet  Flying-Fish,  whichevery 
Wig  family  possesses  and 
cherishes,  much  as  you  or 
I  cherish  a  dog  or  a  cat ; 
but  when  some  one  made 
the  Historian  a  present  of 
another  and  much  younger 
Fly  ing -Fish,  he  at  once 
caused  a  smaller  hole  to  be 
made  so  that  his  new  pet 
also  could  come  in  and  out 
as  it  pleased. 

Redy  and  Smaly  found 
the  Historian  sitting  in  a 
corner  of  his  room  studying 
a  piece  of  paper  through  a 
telescope,  and  taking  notes 
as  to  what  he  saw.  The 
little  husband  and  wife  shut 

the  door  gently  behind  them  and  remained  very 
quiet.  They  were  quite  alone  with  this  curious 
and  enormous  being,  who  took  no  more  notice  of 
them  than  if  they  had  been  a  couple  of  mice. 

It  was  the  first  time  that  Redy  and  Smaly  had 
seen  the  interior  of  a  Wig  house,  and  they  found  it 
resembled  nothing  so  much  as  the  laboratory  of  an 

83 


THE  PET  FLYING-FISH,  WHICH 

EVERY  WIG  FAMILY  POSSESSES 

AND  CHERISHES 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

alchemist  or  astronomer.  The  thing  Smaly  and 
Redy  admired  most  was  a  large  globe  upon  which 
all  the  Wig  possessions  were  painted  in  red. 


THE  AMOUNT  OF  CAKE  AND  PUDDING  EATEN  ANNUALLY  IN  THE  COUNTRY 

At  first  they  were  very  astonished  to  see  how 
big  the  Wigs'  country  appeared  to  be  ;  but  after  a 
little  study  Smaly  suggested  that  the  areas  covered 
in  red  must  represent  the  importance  morally  and 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 


mentally  of  the  coun- 
try rather  than  its 
geographical  area,and 
this  Redy  agreed 
with,  for  she  had 
found  ranged  in  a 
row  beside  the  globe 
a  lot  of  little  painted 
cardboard  figures  of 
different  sizes  repre- 
senting the  amount  of 
cake  and  pudding 
eaten  annually  in  the 
countries  represented 
by  these  little  figures  ; 
which  were  the  Wigs' 
country,  Parseny's 
Land,  England, 
France,  Italy,  and 
Belgium,  and  the 
Wigs'  countiy  was  the 
biggest  of  the  lot. 


THE  ELDER  OF  THE  FISHES 


While  the  little  husband  and  wife  were  discussing 
this  in  low  voices  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  Historian, 
the  elder  of  the  Fishes  flew  in.  With  great  difficulty 
it  scraped  through  the  small  hole  instead  of  its  own. 
It  flew  to  its  perch,  and  announced  in  a  clear  voice  : 

"  Three  o'clock  has  struck." 

It  said  these  words  to  a  Hen  who  was   sitting 

85 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

upon  a  coal-scuttle,  busily  making  little  white  and 
yellow  pasties. 


THE  HEN 


Having  made  this  announcement  the  Fish  pulled 
down  its  eyelids  with  its  left  paw,  buried  its  nose 
86 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

in  a  nightcap,  wrapped  its  wings  round  its  head, 
and  went  to  sleep.  The  Hen  seemed  very  agitated 
by  the  Fish's  words,  and  began  to  work  harder  than 
ever. 

She  wore  a  peruke  like  all  the  Wigs,  and  an 
infinite  number  of  skirts  made  of  butter  muslin. 
She  looked  at  the  clock,  for  the  big  hand  had  stopped 
at  two,  whereas  the  little  hand  was  at  the  hour  of 
three.  While  she  gazed  at  it  the  left  foot  of  the 
Historian  shot  out  and  brought  the  little  hand  round 
to  six  o'clock. 

At  once  the  Hen  started  rolling  out  six  yellow 
balls  upon  her  pasteboard.  These  she  wrapped  up 
in  a  white  crust  and  then  hid  them  in  the  pockets  of 
her  skirts  and  sat  upon  them,  while  she  made  fourteen 
more  eggs  out  of  the  white  and  yellow  paste. 

"  The  little  hand  must  be  to  ask  for  six  hard- 
boiled  eggs,"  whispered  Redy  to  Smaly. 

At  that  moment  Smaly,  who  was  staring  out  of 
the  window,  nudged  Redy,  and  looking  out  together 
they  saw  that  the  Wigs,  who  had  been  busily  re- 
building the  kitchen,  had  all  fallen  asleep  in  the 
market  square  because  three  o'clock  was  the  hour 
of  the  afternoon's  rest.  The  Confectioner,  his  hair 
streaming  in  the  wind,  was  running  hard  towards 
his  own  house.  He  held  by  the  hand  Fritilla,  the 
youngest  of  the  Prisoner's  daughters,  whose  big  eyes 
were  looking  all  about  her  as  she  ran.  The  Con- 
fectioner pushed  her  rapidly  into  his  house  and  shut 
the  door  upon  her,  then  he,  too,  fell  asleep  in  the 
square  like  the  other  Wigs.  This  care  which  the 

87 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

Confectioner  took  of  Fritilla  was  by  no  means  un- 
necessary, as  for  several  days  she  had  been  pursued 


THIS  CARE  WHICH  THE  CONFECTIONER  TOOK  OF  FRITILLA  WAS 
BY  NO  MEANS  UNNECESSARY 


by  an  enormous  red  Flying- Fish  which  declared  that 
she  had  stolen  from  it  its  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
secondth  feather.  It  declared  that  it  had  seen  the 
plume  actually  in  her  hands,  and  that  when  it  had 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

gone  home  and  counted  its  feathers  over  before 
going  to  sleep  that  night  it  only  possessed  seven 

hundred  and  eighty-one. 

•  •••.* 

The  smaller  Flying-Fish  now  flew  into  the  His- 
torian's room,  using  its  own  little  hole.  It  hated  using 
this  ;  but  it  seemed  an  even  greater  humiliation  to 
use  the  big  one,  for  that  made  the  poor  little  Fish 
feel  smaller  than  ever.  Thus  it  came  about  that 
neither  the  big  nor  the  little  Flying-Fish  ever  used 
the  larger  hole,  which  had  become  all  overgrown 
with  delicate  mosses  and  stonecrop,  and  even  by  a 
fine  yellow  wallflower.  The  windows  in  this  country, 
if  people  did  not  look  through 
them  often  enough,  became 
almost  opaque. 

The  little  Flying -Fish 
seated  itself  on  its  perch,  and 
called  out : 

"  It's  nearly  half-past  three. 
We    must    rest.     Everybody 
must  rest.    Let's  go  to  sleep." 
And  it,  too,  pulled  down  its 
eyelids  with  its  left  paw,  buried 
its    nose    in    a    nightcap,    and 
wrapped    its   wings    round     its 
head. 

The  Historian  stretched  out 
a  hand,  took  the  six  hard-boiled 
eggs    from    the    Hen     dropped      THE  SMALLER  FLYING- 
them    through    a    hole    in    his  FISH 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

beak,  put  the  hand  of  the  clock  back  to  zero,  then 
he,  too,  shut  his  eyes. 

"  He  sleeps,"  murmured  Smaly  and  Redy. 

Smaly  tiptoed  across  to  the  Historian. 

•>  !•,'••  •?':•  '  V ''."*  .    "' 

'••&x£?$.i&?£$® 


DROPPED  THEM  THROUGH  A  HOLE  IN  HIS  BEAK 

He  was  a  curious  sort  of  man,  extremely  thin, 
his  face  dominated  rather  than  adorned  by  an 
immense  beak,  which  apparently  he  could  not  open ; 
and  he  had  little  twinkling  eyes  like  an  elephant's, 
which  twinkled  even  more  when  they  were  shut 
than  when  they  were  open.  He  wore  a  sort  of 
wrapper,  trimmed  with  fur  round  the  neck,  sleeves, 
90 


WAS  SITTING  WITH  ONE  ANKLE  ACROSS  THE  KNEE  OF  HIS 
OTHER  LEG 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

and  legs.  Neither  Redy  nor  Smaly  could  quite 
decide  what  the  Historian  was  made  of,  whether  of 
Manchester  pudding,  of  pie-crust,  or  gingerbread, 
and  they  did  not  dare  try  and  taste  him  for  fear  of 
waking  him  up. 

The  Historian  was  sitting  with  one  ankle  across 
the  knee  of  his  other  leg,  and  had  rolled  round  his 
thin  calf  the  manuscript  upon  which  he  had  been 
working.  This  manuscript  was  trained  to  roll  itself 
up  slowly  round  his  leg  whilst  he  wrote  it. 

Smaly  looked  carefully  all  round  him.  The  Hen 
was  sleeping,  the  two  Fish  slept  also,  the  Historian 
slept  profoundly  without  snoring.  He  had  always 
wanted  to  be  able  to  snore  ;  but  he  could  never 
succeed  because  of  his  beak,  and  therefore  he  had 
invented  a  sort  of  little  suction-pump  run  by  a  motor, 
which  he  kept  beside  him,  and  which  snored  quite 
as  well  as  a  man. 

Except  Smaly  and  Redy  every  one  was  sleeping 
in  the  house  of  the  Historian.  Outside  in  the  sun- 
baked square  the  Chief  Contractor,  the  Confectioner, 
Mistigris,  the  Young  Stork,  and  the  Crow  slept 
also,  heaped  one  upon  the  other  in  a  casual  manner, 
only  the  Despoiler,  who  was  always  afraid  that  some 
one  would  find  out  that  he  was  only  made  of  card- 
board, never  slept  in  public.  He  always  retired  to 
rest  in  a  little  room  under  the  roof  of  his  house. 

When  Smaly  had  made  quite  sure  that  there  was 
no  one  to  see  them,  he  took  Redy  by  the  hand 
and  began  gently  to  unroll  the  Historian's  manu- 
script. Smaly  and  Redy  began  to  read  it  to  each 
92 


THE   DESPOILER,   WHO 

WAS       ALWAYS       AFRAID 

THAT  SOME  ONE  WOULD 
FIND  OUT  THAT  HE  WAS 
ONLY  MADE  OF  CARD- 
BOARD, NEVER  SLEPT  IN 
PUBLIC 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

other  in  low  voices,  word  by  word,  like  children 
who  go  upstairs  one  leg  at  a  time.  This  is  what 
they  read  : 

"  Thursday,  half-past  three. 

"  All  buildings  except  the  cherry-tart  destroyed 
in  the  market  square. 

"  The  Prisoner  crossed  the  river  while  it  was  dry. 

"  Rolled  across  the  park  of  chocolate-moulds, 
crushing  everything  beneath  him. 

"  He  then  rolled  on  over  the  great  kitchen,  which 
was  happily  empty. 

"  (The  two  little  people  made  of  suet  have  been 
shut  in  with  me.) 

"  Up  past  the  public  square,  and  the  two  little 
people  tried  to  talk  to  him. 

"  The  Rats  worked  hard  at  keeping  the  prison 
together  ;  but  there  are  cries  everywhere. 

"  Every  one  is  calling  out  *  The  Prisoner  is 
coming.' 

"  How  annoying  this  is,"  said  Redy,  "  we're 
reading  it  backwards." 

"  Annoying,"  said  a  deep  voice  which  came 
from  the  closed  beak  of  the  Historian.  He  had  for- 
gotten that  he  was  asleep,  and  lifting  up  his  foot  he 
kicked  the  two  inquisitive  little  people  to  the  other 
end  of  the  room. 

But  the  sight  of  the  Flying-Fish  and  the  Hen  sleep- 
ing reminded  him  that  he,  too,  was  not  really  awake, 
so  he  closed  his  eyes  and  did  not  move  again. 

Smaly  was  able  to  go  on  unrolling  the  whole  of 
the  manuscript. 

94 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Redy  and  Smaly  read  of  the  childhood  of  the  Prisoner. 

THEY  read  as  follows  : 
"  THE  STORY  OF  DJORAK 

"  This  is  what  I,  the  Historian,  have  been  able  to 
discover  about  the  life  of  Djorak,  called  The  Prisoner, 
before  he  came  to  us.  He  told  it  to  me  himself 
before  he  was  placed  in  his  prison  of  sugar-canes. 

"  He  is  a  sailor. 

"  He  has  been  tattooed. 

"  Nearly  everything  that  has  been  tattooed  upon 
him  is  very  terrible ;  for  instance,  one  can  read  upon 
his  shoulder-blade  : 

"  '  Eat  meat  raw  if  you  can't  get  it  cooked.' 

"  Indeed,  he  has  himself  avowed  to  me  that  he 
used  to  eat  all  sorts  of  animals,  rabbits,  sheep,  and 
even  birds. 

"  On  his  other  shoulder  was  written  : 

"  '  Avoid  water  like  poison.' 

"  He  had  also  inscribed  about  his  person  : 
*  Drink  your  gin  and  whisky  neat.' 

"  *  Always  have  a  hot  drink  in  the  evening.' 

"  '  Reverence  the  sun  and  each  of  the  winds  as 
it  blows.' 

95 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  On  his  breast  he  bore  a  heart  cruelly  transfixed 
with  arrows. 

"  I  gathered  that  from  his  childhood  he  was 
rough  and  disobedient.  That  when  as  a  little  boy 
he  used  to  go  into  the  wood  behind  the  house  to 
smoke,  his  mother  always  followed  him  and  carefully 


"  INSTEAD  OF  CUTTING  HIS  TOE-NAILS  AS  WE  DO  WITH  THE  HELP  OF  A 
LONG-HANDLED  PAIR  OF  SCISSORS  AND  A  TELESCOPE  " 

presented  him  with  an  ash-tray,  yet  he  never  made 
use  of  the  tray  ;  but  kept  it  in  his  pocket  and  scattered 
the  ash  all  over  the  wood. 

"  Instead  of  cutting  his  toe-nails  as  we  do  with 
the  help  of  a  long-handled  pair  of  scissors  and  a 
telescope,  he  preferred  to  take  each  nail  off  sepa- 
rately, trim  it,  and  put  it  back,  although  this  in- 
variably made  his  mother  cry. 

"  He  was  so  perverse  that  when  any  one  asked 


SOME  OF  THE  DANCES  WERE  VERY  COMPLICATED 

Page  122 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

him  what  the  time  was  he  would  always  insist  on 
telling  it  by  the  barometer,  although  he  knew  per- 
fectly well  that  the  exact  time  is  only  to  be  found 
on  the  clock. 

"  He  always  marked  out  the  tennis-court  with 
green  chalk,  because  he  maintained  that  the  white 
looked  too  loud  and  left  marks  upon 
the  grass. 

"  Evidently  from  his  earliest 
youth  he  was  of  the  stuff  of  which 
criminals  are  made. 

"  When  he  grew  up  he  married 
and  became  the  father  of  three 
adorable  little  girls." 

At  the  mention  of  the  three  little 
girls  Redy  and  Smaly  stopped  and 
looked  at  each  other. 

"  Those  are  the  three  little 
daughters  of  the  Prisoner/'  whis- 
pered Redy. 

Smaly  went  on  reading  : 

"  When  his  wife  died,"  Smaly 
read,  "  he  decided  to  give  to  his 
daughters  a  good,  if  rather  original 
education. 

"  Every  alternate  week  he  dressed 
them  as  boys,  and  during  that  week 
they  behaved  as  boys,  and  the  next 
week  they  would  become  girls 
again.  *  That  will  accustom  them 
to  anything/  he  used  to  say.  THE  KING 

G  97 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

*  Nothing  in  life    should   be   difficult 
to  them  after  that/ 

"  Three  young  men  fell  in  love 
with  them,  but  unfortunately  called 
on  their  father  to  demand  them  in 
marriage  one  Monday  morning  when 
the  three  girls  were  dressed  as  boys, 
and  considered  as  such  by  their 
father. 

"  The  three  young  men  were  thrown 
out  of  the  house  with  great  violence 
by  the  infuriated  parent.  One  young 
man  lost  his  hat,  the  second  lost  his 
arms  and  his  walking-stick,  and  the 
third  lost  one  of  his  legs. 

"  Certainly  Djorak's  love  for  his 
daughters  was  very  intense. 

"  It  was  this  love  which  was  his 
ruin. 

"  One  day  in  the  presence  of  the 
King  of  his  country  he  boasted  of 
being  the  father  of  the  three 
most  beautiful  young  girls  in  his 
country. 

"  What  an  imprudence  !  The  King 
himself  possessed  a  daughter  whose  beauty,  to 
say  the  least  of  it,  was  not  remarkable,  and  the 
King,  who  was  very  intelligent,  was  perfectly 
well  aware  of  the  fact.  He  was  furious  when  he 
heard  Djorak's  boast.  He  had  him  arrested  and 
tried  before  the  high  court,  who  decided  that  the 


THE  KING'S 
DAUGHTER 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

punishment  of  death  was  barely  sufficient  for  such 
an  audacious  criminal. 

The  punishment  of  death  in  Djorak's  country 
is  by  beheading  with  the  sword  ;  a  criminal's  head  is 
only  cut  off  once — but  it  is  once  and  for  all." 


99 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  elder  Flying  Fish  loses  one  eye,  and  the  Hen  finds  it  :  The 
Historian  wakes  up,  and  Smaly  and  Redy  run  out  of  the  house  : 
The  Healer  mends  the  paw  of  the  Confectioner. 

THE  Flying-Fish  upon  their  perches  now  began 
to  shake  their  wings  and  then  their  paws, 
and  last  of  all  their  heads. 

"  Are  we  really  awake  ? "  asked  the  elder  Flying- 
Fish  of  the  younger. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  we  are  more  or  less  shaken 
up,"  replied  the  little  Flying-Fish. 

The  two  Fish  prepared  themselves  to  fly  forthwith 
once  more  upon  their  arduous  duties,  for  the  Flying- 
Fish  in  this  country  act  as  sentinels  and  look-out 
men,  and  also  cry  the  hours  publicly. 

Just  as  they  were  about  to  set  off  the  little  Flying- 
Fish  noticed  that  the  other  had  lost  an  eye. 

"  That  must  have  been  when  I  shook  my  head," 
exclaimed  the  elder  Flying-Fish  with  conviction,  and 
both  flew  down  on  to  the  floor  to  look  for  the  missing 
eye.  The  Hen  joined  them  in  their  search,  and  as 
she  fluttered  down  she  managed  to  upset  a  glass 
retort  from  which  an  opalescent  vapour  began  to 
escape. 

Soon  the  whole  laboratory  was  filled  with  this 
100 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

vapour  in  layer  upon  layer  of  different  colours, 
from  deep  rose  at  the  base  up  through  violet  and 
pale  green  to  a  layer  of  no  colour  at  all,  which  was 
succeeded  by  a  layer  of  blue. 

Through  the  vapour  Smaly  and  Redy  could  hear 
that  the  Fish  and  the  Hen  were  continuing  their 
search  for  the  lost  eye.  Sometimes  they  were  quite 
near  the  two  little  people,  although  no  one  could 
see  any  one  else. 

It  was  the  Hen  who  finally  discovered  the  lost 
eye. 

"  Why,  it's  still  shut,"  said  the  younger  Fish  to 
the  elder. 

"  Doubtless  it  must  have  fallen  out  before  I  had 
really  shaken  myself  awake,"  replied  the  elder. 

Taking  the  eye  from  the  hands  of  the  Hen,  the 
Fish  held  it  in  its  cupped  paws  to  shake  it,  as  one 
shakes  a  coin,  to  see  whether  it  will  come  down 
heads  or  tails.  When  it  had  been  well  shaken  the 
eye  was  open. 

The  little  Fish  took  the  eye  and  replaced  it  in 
the  elder  Fish's  head ;  then  they  both  flew  out,  making 
a  buzzing  noise  like  gigantic  bluebottles. 


The  layers  of  coloured  vapour  now  began  to 
twirl  about  and  mix  like  wreaths  of  steam,  and  once 
again  various  objects  in  the  room  became  visible. 
The  Hen  saw  that  the  big  toes  of  the  Historian  had 
begun  to  move,  and  knowing  that  these  signs  of 
wakefulness  would  presently  mount  as  far  as  his 

101 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

head,  she  hastened  back  to  her  little  pots  of  white 
and  yellow  paste. 

Indeed,  the  Historian  was  already  almost  awake  ; 
he  had  put  down  his  hand  and  stopped  the  little 
snoring  machine. 

Smaly  and  Redy  joined  hands  and  ran  out  of  the 
door. 


Directly  they  appeared  in  the  square  the  Wigs 
seized  hold  of  them  and  ran  them  into  the  kitchen 
once  more,  which  by  now  had  been  built  up  again. 
Smaly  and  Redy  began  to  hope  that  the  evening 
was  not  far  off,  for  they  were  becoming  more  and 
more  anxious  to  see  the  three  girls.  They  opened 
their  mouths  and  began  their  little  chant : 

We  wish  to  have  three  girls, 
Fine,  sweet 

But  at  this  moment  Redy  noticed  that  the  sun 
had  not  moved  during  all  the  hours  of  the  siesta. 
Nobody  had  explained  to  them  that  since  all  the 
Wigs  had  been  asleep  the  sun  had  naturally  thought 
it  would  be  ill-mannered  to  continue  his  advance. 


Redy  and  Smaly  stood  alone  in  the  kitchen 
wondering  what  to  do,  when  the  door  opened  and 
a  middle-sized  man  walked  in,  saying  in  a  severe 
voice  : 

"  Where  the  dickens  have  those  idiots  got  to  ?  " 
Smaly  hid  himself  behind  Redy,  and  Redy  hid 
102 


THE  HEALER 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 


herself  behind  a  large  plant, 
which  grew  in  one  of  the 
ornamental  vases  at  the  side 
of  the  Chief  Contractor's 
throne. 

The  man  who  came  in 
had  evidently  been  born 
with  the  idea  of  one  day 
being  a  very  big  man.  But 
he  had  been  destined  by 
his  parents  to  become  a 
great  Healer,  and  as  soon 
as  he  had  discovered  this  it 
occurred  to  him  that  it 
would  be  better  to  be 
merely  of  medium  height, 
so  that  he  did  not  have  to 
make  his  back  ache  bending 
over  the  beds  of  sick  people. 
Therefore  he  at  once  left 
off  growing,  excepting  in 
girth  ;  and  since  he  always 
wished  to  ride  about  the 
country  it  was  obvious  that 
he  did  not  want  his  legs  to 
be  too  strong,  therefore  he 
had  small  legs,  enormous 
shoulders,  a  hump  both 
back  and  front,  and  a  large 
stomach. 

The  Healer  was  accom- 


104 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

panied  by  a  page  made  in  the  shape  of  a  drum. 
This  drum,  besides  having  the  head  of  a  page  and 
two  solid  little  legs  mounted  upon  roller-skates,  was 
hung  about  with  an  immense  number  of  instruments, 
with  tubes  of  gum,  sealing-wax,  and  candles.  In 
one  of  his  hands  he  carried  a  funnel  made  of  fish- 
glue,  down  which  he  poured  medicine  into  the 
mouths  of  sick  people. 

In  the  other  he  had  a  corkscrew  for  pulling  out 
bad  teeth. 

"  It's  simply  freezing  in  this  horrible  kitchen," 
said  the  Healer,  looking  about  him.  "  Where  on 
earth  have  they  got  to  ? '  Then  turning  to  the  page 
he  added  :  "  Fetch  my  cloak  out  of  the  right-hand 
pannier." 

He  gave  a  shove  to  the  drum,  which  skated  off 
to  the  door  where  two  donkeys  stood  side  by  side. 
One  donkey  could  certainly  never  have  supported 
the  Healer,  therefore  he  had  to  have  two,  and  between 
them  was  fastened  a  comfortable  arm-chair.  The 
page  came  back  trailing  a  large  cloak  behind  him, 
made  of  the  leaves  of  aromatic  herbs. 

When  the  Healer  had  put  it  on  he  looked  like 
a  mound  entirely  covered  with  ivy.  The  bag  which 
he  carried  slung  on  his  right-hand  side  was  almost 
hidden  by  his  cloak,  so  was  that  on  his  left. 

Upon  one  of  these,  which  contained  little  bottles 
and  boxes,  one  could  just  read  the  word  "  Medicines," 
and  upon  the  other  "  Rewards  to  be  taken  after 
medicine." 


105 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

The  Healer  continued  to  call  out  "  Where  are 
they,  where  are  they  ?  "  gazing  everywhere  through 


BETWEEN  THEM  WAS  FASTENED  A  COMFORTABLE  ARM-CHAIR 

his  large  single  eyeglass,  which  was  so  big  he  could 
look  through  it  with  both  eyes  at  once. 

He  drew  near  to  the  plant  behind  which  Smaly 
and  Redy  were  hiding,  and  just  as  it  seemed  as 
106 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

though  he  must  discover  them,  they  managed  to 
hide  themselves  beneath  the  folds  of  his  cloak.  They 
were  only  just  in  time. 

The  Chief  Contractor,  the  Crow,  and  the  De- 
spoiler,  followed  by  several  Wigs,  now  came  in. 

"  Where  are  they  ?  "  cried  the  Healer,  turning 
towards  them. 

"  Here  is  the  first  of  them,"  answered  the  Chief 
Contractor,  pointing  to  the  Confectioner,  who  was 
being  supported  by  Mistigris  and  Papylick;  and 
Smaly  and  Redy,  peeping  out  from  beneath  the 
cloak,  began  to  understand  that  the  Healer  was  not 
searching  for  them,  but  for  sick  people. 

"  Dear  me.  It's  his  paw  that's  hurt,"  said  the 
Healer,  and  indeed  this  was  not  difficult  to  see,  for 
the  Stork  had  already  laid  down  upon  the  table  the 
broken  paw  of  the  Confectioner. 

The  Healer  lit  a  candle,  took  his  sealing-wax, 
and  set  to  work. 

.  •  «  .  . 

Outside  an  agitated  crowd  had  assembled. 

Every  one  seemed  to  be  crying  and  wailing. 

Already  in  the  crowd  there  were  newsboys  selling 
accounts  of  the  latest  disaster  to  the  Wigs.  , 

In  the  great  square  hundreds  of  frenzied  people, 
at  the  risk  of  losing  their  shoes  or  their  heads,  danced 
frantically  round  and  round. 

"  What  misery,  what  misery,"  murmured  every 
one  in  the  kitchen,  gazing  at  the  mask  called 

107 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

'  Supreme   Sorrow,"  which  the   Chief  Contractor 
had  placed  over  his  face. 


THERE  WERE  NEWSBOYS  SELLING  ACCOUNTS  OF  THE  LATEST 
DISASTER  TO  THE  WIGS 

"  Who  on  earth  will  rebuild  the  market  square  ?  " 
muttered  the  Young  Stork,  gently  closing  up  with 
his  nail  some  little  holes  which  he  had  discovered 
in  the  back  of  the  Despoiler. 
108 


THE  HEALER  HAD  FINISHED  HIS  MENDING 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  Well,  in  the  first  place,  who  is  going  to  draw 
the  plans  ?  "  asked  the  Despoiler. 

"  We  don't  need  any  plans,"  answered  Papylick. 
"  They  will  draw  the  plans  after  they  have  put 
up  the  building,"  -remarked  the  Crow  in  a  low  voice 
to  Smaly,  whom  he  had  discovered  under  the  Healer's 
cloak. 

"  If  they  have  any  plans  they  can  quite  well 
build  up  all  the  tarts  and  puddings  in  the  square 
again." 

"  The  plans  have  all  been  burnt,"  announced 
the  Chief  Contractor. 

"  But  in  the  first  place  no  one  knows  whether 
the  plans  or  the  buildings  were  made  first,"  objected 
the  Crow. 

No  one  had  anything  to  say  to  this,  so  every  one 
remained  silent,  sunk  in  the  deepest  perplexity. 
Papylick  at  last  suggested  that  they  should  ask  the 
advice  of  the  Mother  of  the  Crow. 

By  this  time  the  Healer  had  finished  his  mending. 
The  Confectioner,  placing  his  hand  against  his 
mother-of-pearl   forehead,   murmured,   "  I   have   a 
pain  there." 

:  That  must  be  the  fever,"  said  the  Despoiler. 
"  Fever  ? "  demanded  the  Healer  sharply.  "  How 
can  there  be  fever  when  I  have  glued  his  paw  on 
again?  He  hasn't  got  fever  at  all.  It's  worrying 
that's  given  him  a  headache.  What  Wig  worthy  of 
the  name  is  not  worrying  at  this  moment  when  such 
a  grave  and  terrible  problem  lies  before  us." 

no 


CHAPTER  X 


The  Wigs  all  imagine  they  suffer  from  headache  :  The  Rats  come 
to  the  Healer  to  be  cured  of  the  ravages  of  hot  Soy  :  The  Chief 
Contractor  has  to  make  himself  ill  eating  the  musical  instruments. 


D 


IRECTLY  he  heard  the  word  '  problem  ): 
the  Chief  Contractor  put  on  the  mask  of 
the  "  Mathematician." 
"It  is  indeed  atrocious,  this  problem  that 
confronts  us,"  continued  the  Healer,  "  and  who  can 
there  be  amongst  us  who  is  not  full  of  distress  when 
he  considers  that  in  the  whole  of  our  country  there 
is  no  one  who  can  tell  us  whether  we  should  begin 
by  making  the  plans  or  the  buildings.  I  trust 
for  the  sake  of  your  honour  that  you  all  have 


headache,"    and 
towards  the  pair 

"I,  too,  hope 
Chief  Contrac- 
slipping  on 
called  "Mi- 

"  I,  too,  hope 
wife,  who  had 

You,  gentle 
on  another  page 
lady,  who  was 
and  dressed  very 


so    saying 


the 


a 

Healer  walked 
of  donkeys, 
so,"  said  the 
tor,  hastily 
the  mask 


graine. 
"     said 


his 


MATHEMATICIAN 


SO, 

just  come  in. 
reader,  will  find 
a  portrait  of  this 
extremely  vain 
extravagantly, 
in 


MIGRAINE 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

She  bore  a  great  resemblance 
to  a  butterfly. 

"  We  all  hope  so,"  said  every 
one  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  crowd 
in  the  square  took  up  the  remark, 
so  that  all  over  the  town  the 
Wigs  were  sighing  and  placing 
their  right  hands  upon  their  fore- 
heads. 

Soon   they    felt   so   bad   that 

they  all  wetted  their  handkerchiefs  in  the  fountain 
of  rose-water  and  wrapped  them  round  their  heads. 
There  was  a  great  silence.  .  .  . 
"  I  hope  so,  too,"  piped  the  Crow,  a  little  late 
because  he  had  only  just  succeeded  in  putting  on 
his  spectacles. 


The  Stork  re-en- 
tered, pushing  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow  in 
her  oyster  -  shell,  and 
followed  by  the  Healer. 
At  once  the  Stork  be- 
gan to  pull  out  all  the 
fish-bones  which  dur- 
ing his  absence  ill- 
natured  persons  had 
stuck  in  the  back  of  the 
Despoiler. 

But  all  thought  of 
the  grave  problem  to 
112 


WRAPPED  THEIR  HANDKERCHIEFS  ROUND 
THEIR  HEADS 


r  i  a?^c/5^M> 

"  I,  TOO,  HOPE  SO,"  SAID  HIS  WlFE,  WHO  HAD  JUST  COME  IN 


H 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

be  discussed  was  forgotten,  for  at  this  moment  there 
entered  many  more  victims  of  the  travelling  prison. 
(Smaly,  who  up  to  now  had  not  been  so  very,  very 
astonished  at  anything  he  had  seen  or  heard  since 
he  had  passed  through  the  chocolate  door,  really 
was  a  little  surprised  when  he  saw  these  victims.) 

The  chief  sufferers  seemed  to  have  been  the  Rats, 
whose  business  it  was  to  keep  the  sugar-cane  forest 
well  watered.  Nearly  all  had  one  leg  which  was 
much  longer  than  the  other,  or  a  very  long  arm,  or 
an  elongated  nose,  or  a  tail  that  went  on  for  ever. 

"  They  must  have  been  walking  upon  hot  Soy/' 
whispered  a  Wig  to  Smaly. 

This  Wig  was  a  Dwarf  with  a  very  large  head, 
and  he  carried  a  watering-can,  out  of  which  he 
perpetually  drank  a  few  drops. 

Smaly  and  Redy,  their  eyes  round  with  curiosity, 
questioned  him  eagerly. 

"  The  Prisoner  wanted  to  cripple  us  all  for  the 
rest  of  our  days/'  said  the  Dwarf,  drinking  a  little 
more  water,  for  he  suffered  from  a  continual  thirst. 

"  If  you  know  what  a  match  is,"  observed  the 
Crow,  settling  his  spectacles,  "  you  will  very  soon 
understand  what  has  happened." 

"  Yes,"  continued  the  Dwarf,  looking  anxiously 
into  the  bottom  of  his  watering-can.  "  When  the 
prison  had  crossed  the  square  the  Architect  made 
an  attempt  to  save  the  plans." 

"  By  the  Architect  he  means  the  Confectioner," 
whispered  Redy  to  Smaly. 

"  He  rushed  after  the  Prisoner,  crying  out  to 
114 


NEARLY  ALL  HAD  ONE  LEG  WHICH  WAS  MUCH  LONGER  THAN  THE 
OTHER,  OR  A  VERY  LONG  ARM 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

him  to  stop  ;  but  the  Prisoner  only  looked  at  him 
with  his  big  eyes  and,  ceasing  for  a  second  to  break 
the  sugar-canes,  seized  hold  of  a  little  wax  vesta. 


His  ELONGATED  TAIL  WAS  TIED  TO  THE  QUEUE  OF  HIS  WIG 

He  stared  at  the  Architect  with  eyes  full  of  hate, 
and  cried,  *  I  think  no  more  of  you  than  I  do  of  this 
match.'  " 

"  No,  no,"  interrupted  one  of  the  Rats,  "  that's 
116 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

not    how   it    happened    at 
all."    He  carried  one   long 
leg  on   a   crutch,   and    his 
elongated    tail  was    tied    to    the 
queue  of  his  wig.    "  That's 
how  it  happened  at  all,"  he 
peated. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  he 
did  not  show  the  match  ?  "  asked 
the  Dwarf. 

"  Certainly  not,"  replied  the 
Rat. 

Smaly  asked  the  Rat  what  the 
Prisoner  had  really  done. 

The  Rat,  with  fear  in  his  eyes  at 
the  mere  memory,  made  answer  : 

"  He  struck  his  match  on  a  little 
box  so  that  it  sprang  into  flame,  and 
offered  it  to  the  Architect  through 
the  sugar-canes.  The  Architect,  of 
course,  ran  away,  and  in  running  he 
broke  his  leg." 

"Ah!  I'd  forgotten  that 
detail,"  said  the  Dwarf. 

"  A  detail !  "  cried  several 
of  the  Rats.  "  A  detail  !  But 
only  look  at  our  arms  and  legs." 

"  The  Architect  knew  quite 
well,"  explained  the  first  Rat, 
"  that  if  the  match  fell  on  the 
liquid  Soy  it  would  become 


117 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

hot  immediately  and  everything  would  start  to  grow 
—and  only  look  at  our  legs  and  arms  ! ' 

Smaly  began  to  understand  why  it  was  that  the 
Confectioner  walked  about  on  high  pattens,  and 
why  the  Rats  wore  boots.  He  saw  that  though  all 
these  people  owed  their  pleasant  life  to  Soy  because 

it  made  everything  grow  with- 
out any  trouble,  yet  they 
feared  it,  feared  it  even  more 
than  they  feared  the  flies 
which  used  to  come  when 
they  were  asleep  and  eat  the 
sugar  of  which  their  faces  and 
hands  were  composed. 


EVEN  MORE  TH£  ™EY  FEARED 

a  pair  of  boots  without  any 

soles,  and  placed  a  large  pot  of  flowers  on  his 
head,  and  he  now  began  to  imitate  the  Rats  watering 
the  ground,  affecting  an  extreme  fear  of  wetting  his 
feet,  for  it  was  because  their  "boots  had  melted  in 
the  hot  Soy  that  the  Rats'  paws  had  grown  so 
long. 

This  imitation  on  the  part  of  the  Dwarf  was 
interrupted  by  the  sound  of  trumpets,  for  the  Rats 
and  the  Wigs  had  already  begun  to  recover  from 
their  emotion  under  the  care  of  the  Healer,  and 
seizing  hold  of  little  trumpets  of  chocolate  and  sugar 
they  had  begun  to  blow  upon  them. 

Some  seized  drums  and  violins  and  even  bag- 
118 


REWARDS 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

pipes,  and  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether  any  one 
was  speaking  or  not,  the  noise  was  so  loud. 

1  Take  away  the  mouthpieces  and  the  violin 
strings/'  commanded  the  Chief  Contractor. 

1  There  aren't  any,"  cried  the  Rats  and  the  Wigs, 
hastily  eating  them  all. 

Then  they  continued  to  play  their  instruments  ; 
but  these  no  longer  made  any  noise. 


THE  DWARF  HAD  PULLED  ON 
A  PAIR  OF  BOOTS 


The  Healer  was  by  now  at- 
tending to  the  last  of  the  victims. 
He  had  poured  cordial  into  their 
mouths  from  the  page's  funnel, 
and  they  had  all  become  abso- 
lutely drunk.     Then  he  peeled 
off  from  their  legs  the  strips  of 
leather  which    had    re- 
mained stuck  to   them, 
and   cooled    their    little 
paws  with  pistachio-nut 
ice.       When     he     had 
finished    he    took    out 
from  the   sack   labelled 
Rewards  "  a  little  trum- 
pet,   a    punchinello,    a 
drum,    and   a   paper 
-    windmill,  and  handed 
them  round. 

The    Chief  Con- 
tractor, however,  re- 


120 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

fused  to  allow  the  noise  to  begin  again,  and  placing 
over  his  face  a  mask  called  "  Calming  Influences/' 
he  followed  the  Healer,  and  every  time  when  the 
latter  gave  as  a  reward  an  instrument  of  music,  the 
Chief  Contractor  ate  it  himself. 

That  night  the  Chief  Contractor  had  a  bad  attack 
of  indigestion,  and  it  was  the  poor  Confectioner, 
with  his  mended  leg,  who  had  to  make  the  distribu- 
tion of  provisions. 


121 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  young  girls  dance  for  the  Rats,  then  play  a  curious  game  of 
tennis  :  They  fail  to  understand  Smaly's  point  of  view. 

THE  convalescent  Rats  all  sat  in  a  row  upon 
a  circular  bench,  still  holding  between  their 
fingers  the  musical  instruments  which  now 
lacked  mouthpieces. 

To  distract  their  thoughts  some  charming  young 
girls  of  the  country,  dressed  in  fine  and  beautifully 
embroidered  stuffs,  began  to  dance  and  juggle  for 
their  amusement. 

Some  of  the  dances  were  very  complicated  and 
elaborate  ;  but  some,  on  the  other  hand,  were  so 
simple  that  the  performers  had  no  need  to  exert 
themselves  at  all.  They  merely  seated  themselves 
upon  the  ground  and  sniffed  luxuriously  at  jasmine 
and  heliotrope  blossoms.  This  dance  was  so  simple 
that  it  was  not  necessary  for  there  to  be  any  dancers. 

After  several  of  these  simple  and  extremely 
comfortable  dances  the  Rats  begged  the  young  girls 
to  play  a  game  of  tennis. 

Accordingly  eight  of  the  most  accomplished 
players  arranged  themselves  about  the  court,  and 
at  each  corner  they  placed  two  teacups  to  hold  the 
balls. 

122 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

Thus  there  were  eight  teacups. 
The  court  was  divided  by  a  rose-coloured  ribbon. 
Four  players  arranged  themselves  on  either  side 
of  the  ribbon,  each  standing  behind  the  other. 

The  two  leaders  in  each  group  held  rackets  made 


THE  ACCORDION -PLAYERS  BEGAN 

of  vermicelli,  while  the  two  couples  standing  behind 
held  rackets  made  of  stretched  parchment. 

The  game  was  about  to  begin. 

Two  accordion-players  began  to  play  a  quadrille. 

The  Rats  licked  their  chops  and,  pulling  at  their 
moustaches,  strutted  about  full  of  joy. 

Two  chariots,  filled  with  a  pearly  and  transparent 
paste,  were  brought  up,  and  several  dancers  taking 
long  pipes  began  rapidly  to  make  balls  of  it,  and  to 
blow  them  at  the  rackets  ;  the  paste  seemed  to  be 

123 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

of  some  sugary  substance,  and  if  they  blew  too  hard 
the  balls  exploded  without  leaving  so  much  as  a 
trace. 


TENNIS 


Several  balls  vanished  in  this  way. 

Then  a  pretty  blue  ball,  spangled  with  gold,  hit 
one  of  the  vermicelli  rackets.  The  ball  went  right 
124 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

through  the  racket ;    but  since  it  had  lost  velocity, 
it  hung  motionless  in  mid-air. 

While  the  ball  was  hanging  thus,  the  two  players 


THE  BALL  HUNG  UP  THUS 


who  had  the  rackets  of  parchment  tossed  up  to 
decide  which  of  the  two  should  send  the  ball  back. 

This  fell  to  the  part  of  the  fair  girl,  who  advanced 
with  the  stately  steps  of  a  quadrille,  while  the  ball 

125 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

hung  awaiting  her,  and  with  one  short  stroke  she 
hit  it  towards  one  of  the  teacups. 

The  ball  rushed  forward  undeviatingly  ;  but,  as 
it  neared  the  cup,  its  speed  slackened  so  as  not  to 
break  it.  Finally  it  crept  in  as  gently  as  a  baby  is 
put  in  a  cradle. 

"  For  you,  Vera,  for  you,"  cried  the  fair  girl 
who  had  hit  the  ball. 

"  Thank  you,  my  love,"  replied  she  who  had 
been  called  Vera. 

And  thus  the  game  went  on  ;  whenever  a  girl 
hit  one  of  the  balls  hanging  in  mid-air  she  cried  out 
the  name  of  the  friend  to  whom  she  offered  it. 

By  this  ingenious  method,  without  disputes  or 
complications,  the  eight  cups  received  each  its  ball, 
and  when  the  game  was  over  Vera  took  her  ball, 
Dorothea  hers,  Simonetta  hers,  and  so  on,  until  each 
girl  had  her  ball. 

They  then  all  embraced,  and  twining  their  arms 
about  each  other  began  to  go  back  along  the  road 
down  which  they  had  arrived. 

When  they  passed  by  Smaly,  who  was  still 
standing  at  the  door  of  the  kitchen,  he  demanded  : 

"  But  who  won  ? ' 

The  young  girls  were  quite  unable  to  understand 
what  this  question  meant.  They  smiled  divinely  at 
him  with  their  delicately  curved  mouths,  then  each 
one.  showed  him  her  ball  made  of  pearly  sugar. 


126 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Mother  of  the  Crow  tells  of  the  life  and  death  of  Djorak  in 
his  own  country. 

ALL  this  time  Smaly  and  Redy  had  remained  in 
the  great  kitchen.  Suddenly  they  heard  a 
voice  say : 

"  It's  confoundedly  cold  in  this  disgusting  kitchen." 
"  Hullo,  who  is  that  ?  "  asked  Smaly  and  Redy 
together. 

"  It's  I,"  replied  the  Mother  of  the  Crow. 
Peering  about  them  they  discovered  her  where 
she  had  been  left  forgotten  under  the  table,  still 
sitting  in  her  oyster-shell. 
"I'm  cold,"  she  said  again. 
"  What  can  we  do  for  you  ?  "  exclaimed  Redy 
pityingly. 

;  Yes,  how  can  we  help  ?  "  asked  Smaly. 
"  Take  me  back  to  my  tree  of  coral." 
"  They  won't  let  us  go  out  of  here,"  exclaimed 
Redy  and  Smaly. 

"  Then  put  the  Tea-Cosy  over  me,"  suggested 
the  poor  old  Mother  of  the  Crow,  whose  teeth  were 
chattering  in  her  beak. 
And  so  it  was  done. 

There  was  no  longer  anything  to  see  but  a  Tea- 

127 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

Cosy.  The  Mother  of  the  Crow  was  completely 
hidden. 

"  Now  I'm  nice  and  warm,"  said  the  Mother  of 
the  Crow. 

It  was  really  quite  a  new  experience  for  Smaly 
and  Redy  to  hold  a  conversation  with  a  Tea-Cosy. 
The  Mother  of  the  Crow  was  a  great  chatterbox, 
and  she  knew  a  thing  or  two,  and  several  things  more 
after  that. 

"  What  are  you  doing  here  ? "  asked  the  Tea-Cosy. 

Redy  and  Smaly  folded  their  hands,  and  began  : 

We  wish  to  have  three  girls, 
Fine,  sweet 

"  I  know,  I  know,"  interrupted  the  Tea-Cosy, 
"  but  I  meant  what  are  you  doing  here  in  the  great 
kitchen  ?  ' 

"  We're  waiting  for  the  sun  to  go  down,"  was 
the  response. 

"  And  you  can't  leave  till  then," 
replied  the  Tea-Cosy.    "  Then  tell 
me  a  story,  a  nice  long  story. 
I  love  long  stories,"  added  the 
Tea-Cosy  with  enthusiasm. 

"  Are  you  equally  fond  of 
telling  long  stories  ?  '  asked 
Redy  and  Smaly,  both  seized 
with  the  same  idea. 

"  I  like  it  even  better  than 
gooseberry-fool    and    candy- 
TEA-COSY  sugar     caterpillars,"     replied 

128 


KISIKA  IN  HER  SEDAN-CHAIR 

Page  165 


"  WE'RE  WAITING  FOR  THE  SUN  TO  GO  DOWN  " 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

the  Tea-Cosy  in  a  voice  that  trembled  with  ex- 
citement. 

"  Then,"  said  Smaly,  "  tell  us  the  whole  history 
of  the  Prisoner." 

"  Ah,"  replied  the  Tea-Cosy,  "  the  Historian  has 
the  monopoly  of  the  local  chronicles.  We  others 
can't  even  remember  what  happens  in  this  country. 
But  I  can  tell  you  what  the  Prisoner's  life  was  like 
before  he  came  here  and  was  put  in  his  sugar-cane 
prison." 

"  We  know  that  they  cut  off  his  head,"  inter- 
rupted Smaly. 

"  Of  course  if  you  know  all  about  it  it's  not 
worth  while  my  telling  you  the  story,  it  will  be  so 
short,"  said  the  Tea-Cosy  huffily. 

Smaly  managed  to  soothe  the  Tea-Cosy,  which 
then  told  them  the  following  story  : 


"  THE  STORY  OF  DJORAK 

"  My  story  begins  on  a  Saturday,  which  was 
also  market-day.  There  was  a  great  crowd  in  all 
the  streets.  The  chariot  where  Djorak  was  seated 
with  the  Executioner  could  barely  force  a  way 
through  the  mass  of  people.  Every  one  who  had 
the  leisure  to  do  so  followed  the  chariot  of  the  con- 
demned; others,  who  had  not,  took  the  time  out  of 
their  work,  or  their  luncheon  hour.  Servants  out 
shopping  followed  it  with  their  laden  baskets  on 
their  arms.  Great  ladies  sent  away  their  sedan- 
chairs  so  that  they  might  fight  their  way  on  foot, 
130 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

where  no  vehicles,  however  small,  could  have  passed, 
so  dense  was  the  crowd. 

"  When  he  arrived  at  the  scaffold  Djorak  sat 
down.  He  was  a  little 
pale,  which  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at,  for  it 
was  enough  to  put  any 
man  out. 

"  The    Executioner 
vested   himself    in   his 
red    robe,    and    taking 
out    of   his    chariot    a 
small  grindstone  he  began 
to  sharpen  the  pair  of  scis- 
sors  with    which    he    was 
going  to   cut   off   Djorak 's 
head. 

"  The  Prisoner,  for  his 
part,  was  so  upset  when  he 
saw  the  scissors  being 
sharpened  that  he  neglected 
to  respond  to  the  farewell 
salutes  of  his  friends,  which 
they  wafted  to  him  across 
the  barrier  of  policemen  that  surrounded  the  scaffold. 

"  It  seemed  to  Djorak  that  he  must  be  in  a 
dream. 

"  Quite  little  things  of  no  importance  from  every 
period  of  his  life  passed  before  the  eyes  of  his 
imagination. 


SERVANTS  OUT  SHOPPING 
FOLLOWED  IT  WITH  THEIR 
LADEN  BASKETS  ON  THEIR 

ARMS 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"He  found  himself  thinking  of  a  hen  that  his 
parents  had  possessed  when  he  was  a  very  little 
boy.  This  hen  had  been  extremely  intelligent. 

"  One  day  she  had  found  herself  unable  to  break 
the  shell  of  a  snail,  so  she  had  gone  to  the  stock- 
pot  and  taken  out  a  lettuce-leaf.  She  came  back, 
her  bright  eyes  twinkling,  laid  the  leaf  down  before 
the  snail  and  hid  herself. 

"  Presently  the  snail  began  to  shoot  out  his 
horns. 

"  Then  his  head. 

"  Then  his  whole  body. 

"  It  was  exactly  what  the  hen  had  wished  to 


see. 


" 


The  hen  gazed  at  it. 

The  hen  laughed. 

The  hen  opened  her  beak. 

The  hen  gobbled  the  snail  up. 

"  This    and    equally    ridiculous 
happenings     passed     through    the 
Prisoner's  brain.     He  remembered 
his    mother,    and    how    she    used 
thoughtfully    to   put   an   ash- 
tray in  his  pocket  when  -  ' 

"  We  know  all  about  the 
ash-tray,  "  said  Smaly  and  Redy 
together. 

"  Very  well,  very  well,  I'll 
leave  out  the  ash-tray,"  said 

HE  THRUST  HIS  FACE  INTO  *he  Tea-Cosy.  "But  do  you 
ROSES  COVERED  WITH  DEW  know  also  how  when  he  wanted 
132 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

his  mother  to  do  anything  in 
particular  for  him,  he  thrust 
his  face  into  roses  covered 
with  dew  ?  ' 

"  No,  we  don't  know  that." 

"  Well,"  continued  the 
Tea-Cosy,  "  when  he  with- 
drew his  face  it  would  be 
covered  with  dew  from  the 
roses,  and  he  would  say  to 
his  mother  : 

"  c  Only  look  how  I  am 
crying.  .  .  .' 

"  Djorak  thought  of  this 
and    of    a    thousand    other 
things.    He  had  an  excellent 
memory. 

"  Meanwhile  the  moment 
of  his  death  was  approach- 
ing. 

'  The  Executioner  bandaged  his  eyes,  then  turned 
towards  the  crowd  and,  according  to  custom,  de- 
manded : 

"  '  Has  any  one  in  this  town  any  objection  to 
the  way  in  which  I  am  about  to  employ  this  magnifi- 
cent pair  of  scissors  ?  ' 

1  The  Chief  of  Police  answered,  also  according 
to  custom :  *  Have  the  scissors  been  sharpened 
according  to  rule  ?  ' 

c  The  crowd  merely  cried  out,  *  Can  they  cut  ? ' 

"  The  Executioner  thereupon  took  several  old 

133 


THE  EXECUTIONER  BANDAGED 
HIS  EYES 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

newspapers  and,  holding  them  out  before  the  crowd, 
began  to  cut  them  into  fine  strips.  Next  he  took 
some  old  cardboard  boxes,  which  he  treated  in  the 
same  way.  Finally  he  cut  up  whole  logs  of  wood 
into  thin  circles.  In  order  that  every  one  might  see, 
he  did  these  things  in  front  of  him,  behind  him,  to 
the  right  and  to  the  left. 

"  These  experiments  seemed  to  satisfy  the  crowd  ; 
but  the  Chief  of  Police  still  hesitated.  Finally  he 
approached  the  Executioner  and,  leaning  forward, 
said  in  his  ear  : 

"  '  Excuse  me,  I  beg  of  you,  my  dear  friend,  if  I 
seem  indiscreet ;  but  I  am  merely  doing  my  duty. 
The  King  has  particularly  commanded  that  all  the 
rules  shall  be  observed.  Therefore  you  will  under- 
stand that  I  am  bound  to  ask  you  three,  questions  to 
assure  myself  that  you  really  have  the  strength  to 
use  these  scissors  successfully. 

"  '  i.  Have  you  eaten  three  hard-boiled  eggs  this 
morning  ? 

"  *  2.  Have  you  eaten  three  rashers  of  bacon  this 
morning  ? 

"  '  3.  Have  you  played  a  game  of  football  this 
morning  ? ' 

"  To  each  question  the  Executioner  replied  with 
a  nod  of  the  head. 

"  '  Then  get  on  with  it,'  said  the  Chief  of 
Police. 

"  The  Executioner  raised  the  scissors  towards  the 
sky,  turning  himself  about  to  all  points  of  the 
compass.  Then  writh  a  brisk  movement  he  lowered 


NEXT  HE  TOOK  SOME  OLD  CARDBOARD  BOXES 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

the  scissors,  opened  them  and  shut  them  again,  and 
the  head  of  Djorak  tumbled  to  the  ground." 

"  But  that's  the  same  Djorak  who  is 
here  in  the  prison  of  the  sugar-canes," 
interrupted  Smaly,  who  in 
spite  of  his  habit  of  being 
astounded  at  nothing  could 
not  help  showing  a  little  as- 
tonishment. 

"  Don't  be  so  impatient," 
replied  the  Mother  of  the 
Crowimperturbably.  "  You'll 
understand  in  a  moment  or 
two.  Now  I  have  already 
told  you  that  Djorak  had  a 
very  good  memory.  At  the 
moment  when  his  head  was  falling  he  remembered 
that  he  had  always  heard  one  doesn't  die  imme- 
diately when  one's  head  is  cut  off. 

"  It  was  extremely  fortunate  for  him  that  he 
remembered  this  detail. 

"  He  hastened  to  pick  up  his  head,  and  he  jumped 
off  the  scaffold  holding  it  under  his  arm." 
"  Dear  me,"  said  Smaly  and  Redy. 
The  Mother  of  the  Crow  continued  her  story 
imperturbably  : 

"  When  the  crowd  saw  this  man  in  such  a  peculiar 
condition  they  began  to  fly  in  all  directions.  An 
indescribable  panic  followed.  The  square  rapidly 
emptied.  Soon  there  was  no  one  left  saving  a  few 
people  who  had  been  knocked  down.  The  crowd 
136 


OPENED  THEM  AND  SHUT 

THEM  AGAIN 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

ran  and  ran  ;  but  the  beheaded  Prisoner  ran  harder 
still.  Soon  he  was  running  by  himself ;  all  the 
townspeople  had  taken  shelter. 

"  Djorak  and  his  head  had  a  very  precise  end 
in  view  in  running  thus.  It  was  important  both 
for  the  head  and  for  Djorak  to  arrive  as  soon  as 
possible  at  the  house  of  a  certain  Magician  whom 
he  knew. 

"  He  arrived,  rushed  in  and  banged  the  door 
behind  him.  The  Magician,  unfortu- 
nately, was  out,  only  his  young  son 
was  there,  and  although  this  youth 
understood  perfectly  how  urgent  it 
was  that  Djorak's  head  should  be 
fastened  on  again  as  soon  as  possible, 
he  could  do  nothing  to  help  him. 

"  '  Let's  consult  the  Brindled  Rab- 
bit,' suggested  the  Head. 

"  The  Brindled  Rabbit  being  ques- 
tioned played  several  strains  on  a 
harp  of  silver  and  crystal,  then  he 
withdrew  into  an  old  comfit-box  and 
shut  the  lid  down  on  himself. 

"  After  a  few  seconds  he  opened 
the  lid  again,  his  eye  became  visible, 
and  his  little  paw  shoved  a  folded 
slip  of  paper  through  the  opening. 

"  The  Son  of  the  Magician  read 
as  follows  : 

"  i    Three. 


2    Three. 


His  YOUNG  SON 

WAS  THERE 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

3    Three. 

He  at  once  tore  up  to  the  third  story  of  the 


THE  BRINDLED  RABBIT 


house.  There  he  counted  three  shelves,  and  from 
the  third  shelf  he  took  the  third  little  bottle  and 
ran  downstairs  again. 

"  *  What  must  he  do  with  it  ?  '  asked  the  youth, 

138 


His  LITTLE  PAW  SHOVED  A  FOLDED  SLIP  OF  PAPER  THROUGH 
THE  OPENING 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

of  the  Rabbit ;   but  the  box  remained  shut ;   there 
was  no  answer. 

"  *  I  must  drink  it,'  replied  the  Head. 


THEN  THEY  SANG  A  COMIC  DUET 

"  '  But  you've  no  stomach,'  cried  the  Son  of  the 
Magician. 

"  *  Put  my  head  back  on  my  neck,'  suggested 
Djorak,  *  then  there  will  at  least  be  a  stomach  beneath 
my  head.' 
140 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 


'  The  Son  of  the  Ma- 
gician at  once  placed  Djorak's 
head  back  in  its  proper  place 
with  one  hand,  while  with  the 
other  he  tipped  the  little  bottle 
between  its  lips. 

"  The  effect  was  imme- 
diate. 

"  Directly  the  liquor 
trickled  down  his  throat 
Djorak  felt  himself  as  well 
as  ever.  He  danced  about 
with  joy.  He  even  played  a 
game  of  leapfrog  with  the 
Son  of  the  Magician,  then 
they  sang  a  comic  duet,  of 
which  I  cannot  remember 


THEN  THEY  QUESTIONED  A 
BLACK  TOAD 


the  words.    The  first  lines  went  something  like  this  : 

Every  one  who  has  lost  his  head, 
Must  have  had  a  jolly  bad  memory. 

"  But  Djorak  had  a  good  memory,  and  so  he  had 
kept  his  head. 

"  During  their  song  the  Brindled  Rabbit  crept 
out  of  his  comfit-box.  He  could  not  stay  in  it  for 
laughing  at  the  comic  song. 

"  Djorak  and  the  Son  of  the  Magician  begged 
him  to  advise  them  what  to  do  next ;  but  the  Rabbit 
only  held  its  sides  with  laughter,  and  made  no 
reply. 

1  Then  they  questioned  a  Black  Toad  who  came 

141 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

crawling  out  of  a  pot  of  treacle  where  he  lived, 
and  began  to  lick  himself  dry  with  a  fine,  forked 
tongue. 

"  The  Rabbit  hopped  up  to  him  wishing  to  share 
in  the  treacle  ;  but  the  Black  Toad  flew  into  a  rage. 
It  was  a  worse  rage  than  even  that  of  the  Chief 
Contractor  when  we  have  not  placed  ourselves 
symmetrically,"  added  the  Mother  of  the  Crow, 
remembering  that  Smaly  and  Redy  had  seen  the 
Contractor  in  a  temper. 

Then,"  she  continued, "  the 
of  the  Magician  asked  the 
Black  Toad  in  what  coun- 
try Djorak  should  take  re- 
fuge, making  the  sugges- 
tion that  they  should  send 
him  to  a  green  country 
where  the  clouds  were  all 
white  and  the  trees  mauve. 
"  The  Black  Toad  shot 
forward  to  within  an  inch 
of  the  Rabbit's  nose  ;  but 
without  advancing  a  step, 
for  his  legs  suddenly  ex- 
panded to  allow  him  to  do 
so. 

"  *  I  hate  mauve    and 
white,'   he    snapped,  and 
shot  back  again. 
AND  FISH  IN  THE  LITTLE  RIVER  IN  "  J^f    ^bit    replied 

THE  AFTERNOON  peacefully,     How  about  a 

142 


THE  THIN  LONG  ARM  OF  THE  HISTORIAN 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

rose-coloured  country,  where  the  people  dance  as 
they  bake  the  bread  ? ' 

"  c  I  would  like  that,'  said  Djorak. 

"  '  I  don't  doubt  it,'  said  the  Brindled  Rabbit. 

*  Or  would  you  like  a  country  where  they  hunt 
butterflies  all  the  morning,  and  fish  in  the  little 
river  in  the  afternoon  ? '  asked  the  Rabbit. 

"  *  Yes,  yes,  that  will  do,'  replied  Djorak,  who 
was  anxious  to  get  away. 

"  *  He  is  a  misanthrope,'  declared  the  Toad, 
retreating  towards  its  pot  of  treacle. 

"  '  Oh,  kind  Toad,  do  tell  me  where  I  ought  to 
go,'  begged  Djorak. 

"  '  Get  into  this  little  glass  tube,'  replied  the  Toad. 

"  Djorak  obeyed. 

"  This  tube*  was  no  bigger  than  a  penholder  ; 
when  Djorak  was  comfortably  settled  inside  of  it 
the  Black  Toad  put  one  end  of  it  into  his  mouth 
and  blew. 

"  He  blew  so  hard  that  Djorak  was  shot  right 
into  our  country.  Then " 

But  here  Redy  interrupted  the  Mother  of  the 
Crow.  She  gave  a  little  shake  to  the  Tea-Cosy  and 
whispered  rapidly  what  she  had  noticed  taking  place 
on  the  other  side  of  the  public  square. 

This  is  what  she  had  seen. 

From  one  of  the  holes  made  for  the  Flying-Fish 
Redy  perceived  the  thin  long  arm  of  the  Historian 
sticking  out,  the  finger  pointing  accusingly  towards 
the  door  of  the  kitchen,  where  Smaly,  Redy,  and  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow  were  seated. 
144 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

The  Mother  of  the  Crow  understood  the  signifi- 
cance of  this  at  once.  It  meant  she  would  not  be 
permitted  to  carry  her  story  any  further.  The 
monopoly  of  the  chronicles  of  the  country  belonged 
to  the  Historian. 

The  Mother  of  the  Crow  had  to  hold  her  tongue. 


145 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Smaly  and  Redy  are  taken  to  see  the  Fleet :  The  Prisoner  arrives 
and  the  Wigs  fly  in  terror  :  Smaly  and  Redy  at  last  have  speech 
with  the  Prisoner. 

AT  this  momet  a  crowd  of  Wigs  ran  in  at  the 
door  crying : 
"  The  fleet  has  arrived,  the  fleet  has  arrived." 

"  The  fleet  ?  "  asked  Smaly.  "  I  haven't  seen 
any  sea." 

"  There  isn't  any  sea,  or  any  water  in  the  river," 
replied  the  Mother  of  the  Crow. 

'  Do  you  imagine,"  demanded  the  Young  Stork, 
"  that  a  nation  like  ours  is  going  to  deprive  itself 
of  the  splendid  luxury  of  a  fleet  simply  because 
chance  has  decreed  that  the  ocean  should  not  come 
as  far  as  its  frontiers  ? ' 

"  Besides,  a  fleet's  so  ornamental,"  said  the 
Mother  of  the  Crow. 

"  Oh,  you're  there,  are  you  ?  "  said  the  Young 
Stork.  "  I  have  been  asked  to  beg  you  to  assist 
at  the  grand  inauguration  ceremony  of  the  fleet." 

Smaly  and  Redy  begged  the  Young  Stork  to 
allow  them  to  accompany  him. 

The  Stork,  who  was  always  charitably  employed 
at  the  task  of  extracting  fish-bones  from  the  back 
of  the  Despoiler,  and  so  was  accustomed  to  doing 
146 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

kindnesses,  promised  to  beg  for  this  favour  for  them 
from  the  Chief  Contractor.    Then  the  Stork  departed, 


EXTRACTING  FISH-BONES  FROM  THE  BACK  OF  THE  DESPOILER 

taking  with  him  the  Mother  of  the  Crow,  huddled 
up  in  her  oyster-shell. 

After  a  quarter  of  an  hour  four  more  Wigs 
arrived  in  the  kitchen;  dangling  from  a  long  stick, 
they  bore  a  large  copper  cauldron. 


THEY  BORE  A  LARGE  COPPER  CAULDRON 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"It  is  permitted  that  you  should  assist  at  the 
ceremony,"  they  announced  to  Smaly  and  Redy. 
"  Get  into  the  pot." 

Smaly  and  Redy  climbed  in,  full  of  joy,  and 
Smaly  whispered  low  to  his  little  wife,  "  They  are 
still  afraid  that  the  sun  will  melt  us,  and  that  we 
shall  cover  their  beautiful  w 

lawn  with  grease." 

"Take  this  umbrella," 
continued  the  Wig   who 
was     the     spokesman, 
offering  them  a  mushroom. 
"  This  will  protect  you  from 
the  hot  rays  of  the  sun ;  and 
whatever  you  do  don't  lean 
over  the  edge  of  the  caul- 
dron." 

Then  they  set  off. 


The  fleet  was  already 
arranged  upon  a  long  plat- 
form painted  blue. 
The  vessels  were 
made  of  pink  and 
white  marzipan,  and 
all  had  two  masts  of 
cane  and  little  silken 
flags.  A  funnel  of 
gilt  paper  was  placed 
in  the  middle  of  each 
ship. 


THE  ADMIRAL  WAS  A  TRITON 


149 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  But  there's  no  smoke  coming  out  of  the 
funnels/'  objected  Smaly. 

"  I  know,  I  know,"  replied  the 
Chief  Contractor  impatiently,  and 
turning  he  ordered  :  "  Admiral, 
put  the  smoke  in  place,"  and  the 
Admiral  at  once  arranged  a  charm- 
ing little  puff  of  smoke  made  of 
cotton-wool  at  the  top  of  each  of 

the  forty  funnels. 

•  •  • 

The  Admiral  was  a  Triton, 
whom  the  Wigs  had  made 
themselves.  They  had  set 
their  heart  on  possessing  this 
little  animal ;  but  since  they 
had  no  sea  from  which  to 
catch  one,  they  had  done  their 
best  to  model  one  from  an 
authentic  picture. 

The  Triton  was  made  of 
and      almond 
paste. 

The  other  personages  who  had  arrived  with  the 
fleet  were  the  White  Dolphin  with  pink  eyes,  and  a 
young  but  very  despondent  Syren,  a  black  Sea-Dog, 
and  a  large  Sea-Horse,  which  seemed  almost  mad ; 
also  an  extremely  curious  fish,  which  brought  its 
own  food  in  a  glass  jar. 

All  these  creatures  had  asked  nothing  better 
than  to  leave  the  sea,  which  had  become  unbearable 
150 


THE  WHITE  DOLPHIN  WITH     i _i 

PINKEYES  barley-sugar 


.THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

for  them  during  the  past  few  years  because  of  the 
submarines.  All  of  them  were  very  happy  at  the 
chance  of  obtaining  employment  in  a  country  as 
solid  and  sweet  as  that  of  the  Wigs.  Their  business 
here  would  be  to  look  after  the  fleet.  Already  they 
knew  all  the  ships  quite  well  by  sight,  and  that  was 
all  that  was  needed. 

The  Chief  Contractor  placed  over  his  face  the 
"Master-Mask,"  and  held  out  his  hand,  which  held 
one  of  the  long  bamboo  spoons. 

He  announced  in  a  solemn  voice  : 

"  We,  the  Chief  Contractor  and  the  Wigs,  declare 
the  fleet  of  our  country  to  consist  of  forty  ships,  here 
drawn  up  in  line,  and  the  Triton  is  declared  by 
us  to  be  Admiral,  Painter,  Rope- 
maker,  and  Sugar-repairer.  So  be 


t." 


'  So  be  it,  and  long  live  the 
marzipan  fleet,"  cried  all  the  citi- 
zens, who  had  never  seen  the  sea. 

"  Is  there  really  no  water  any- 
where ? "  asked  Smaly  a  little 
indiscreetly. 

The     Chief    Contractor    leant 
towards  Smaly,  who  was  still  sitting 
in   his   cauldron,  and  whispered 
low  in  his  ear  : 

"  Tell  the  truth,  do  you  really 
think   that   that   fleet   needs    any    ^  E^E^Y  CURIOUS 
water  ?  "  FISH 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  I  am  certain  of  it,"  replied  Smaly  imperturb- 
ably,  -leaning  over  the  edge  of  the  cauldron  towards 
the  Chief  Contractor,  whereupon  the  Stork  gently 
pushed  him  back  again. 

The  Chief  Contractor  was  in  a  great  state  of 
consternation  and  stood  gazing  from  one  to  the  other 
of  the  important  officials  of  the  Wig  Republic  as 
though  for  assistance,  while  even  the  crowd  began 
uneasily  to  feel  the  effect  of  his  dismay. 

Suddenly  the  Chief  Contractor  noticed  that  the 
eye  slung  round  the  neck  of  the  Crow  was  winking 
at  him  to  approach.  He  accordingly  went  towards 
the  Mother  of  the  Crow,  who  spoke  into  his  ear. 

Beneath  his  mask  the  Chief  Contractor's  mouth 
began  to  smile.  Quickly  putting  on  the  mask  of 
"  Good-Humour/'  he  announced  : 

"  A  band  of  our  Rats  will  each  morning  copiously 
water  our  fleet,  for,  believe  me,  no  fleet  is  quite 
complete  without  water." 

Here  the  Crow  took  two  steps  towards  the  Chief 
Contractor,  and  putting  on  his  ebony  spectacles, 
whispered  a  few  words  to  him.  The  Chief  Con- 
tractor thereupon  added  in  a  loud  voice  : 

"  They  will  not  use  the  water  of  Soy." 

Suddenly  he  perceived  it  was  necessary  to  change 
the  mask  of  "  Good-Humour  "  for  that  of  "  Anger," 
for  several  audacious  Wigs  were  busy  writing  their 
names  upon  the  hulls  of  the  white  ships  ;  but  he 
had  no  time  to  give  vent  to  his  just  indignation,  for 
upon  all  sides  the  well-known  cry  arose  : 

"  The  prison  is  coming,  the  prison  is  coming." 


"  A  BAND  OF  OUR  RATS  WILL  EACH  MORNING  COPIOUSLY  WATER  OUR  FLEET  " 


THE   CITY   CURIO^US 

There  was  no  doubt  about  it ;  the  Prisoner  must 
have  heard  the  enthusiastic  shouts  of  the  crowd,  and 
in  his  mad  rage  was  now  bearing  down  upon  the 
fleet.  Some  of  the  bravest  Wigs  managed  to  save 
a  few  ships,  many  more  were  weeping  ;  but  the 

largest  number  did  not 
wait  to  see  what  was 
happening,  but  took  to 
their  heels. 

Soon  Smaly  and 
Redy  were  almost  alone 
in  their  cauldron.  The 
forest  of  sugar-canes  was 
arriving,  preceded  by  the 
little  army  of  Rats  with 
watering-cans. 

When    the    Prisoner 
was  near  enough  to  hear 
them,  Smaly  and  Redy 
cried  out  : 
"  Djorak,  Djorak,  stop  a  minute." 
When  he  heard  real  voices,  human  voices,  Djorak 
paused.    His  rage  fell  from  him  like  a  cloak. 
"  Djorak,  Djorak." 

"  Who  calls  my  name  ?  "  asked  the  Prisoner  in 
a  husky  voice,  a  voice  which  had  not  been  used  for 
many  years. 

"  It's  Smaly  and  Redy  who  call  you.  We  want 
to  help  you,"  added  Redy. 

When  he  heard  a  woman's  voice  Djorak's  thoughts 
flew  to  the  three  daughters  he  had  lost,  and  his 
154 


WlGS  WERE  BUSY  WRITING  THEIR  NAMES 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 


front 
him, 
Rats 


madness   fell   away   from   him.     He 
drew  nearer  to  the  two  little  people 
by  breaking  the  sugar-canes  in 
of  him.    They  could  now  see 
and  he  could  see  them.      The 
lay  down  to  rest,  so  no  new  sugar- 
canes  sprang  up  to  bar  the  way. 

"  Will  you  save  me  ? '  de- 
manded Djorak. 

"  It  will  be  the  first  thing 
we  shall  think  of  when  we  are 
allowed  out  of  this  cauldron/' 

"  Cauldron  ? "  repeated  the 
Prisoner.  "  Cauldron  ?  And 
when  will  you  be  allowed  out 
of  it  ?  " 

"  When  the  sun  goes  down/' 
cried  Redy ;  "  and  we  will  give  you 
back  your  daughters." 

In  his  profound  joy  Djorak  all 
but  lost  consciousness. 

"  But     while     we're    waiting," 
remarked  Smaly,  "  tell  us  how  came  it  about  that 
you  were  put  in  this  prison." 

But  Redy  interrupted  to  say,  "  First  let's  agree 
on  a  place  where  we  can  all  meet,  and  what  sign  we 
shall  tell  it  by." 

So  they  arranged  that  the  Prisoner  should  turn 
his  prison  in  the  direction  of  a  red  flag,  which 
Smaly  would  tie  to  a  tree  near  the  frontier. 


A  RED  FLAG 


155 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 


THE  PRISONER'S  STORY 

"  I  was  hurled  into  this  country,"  said  the 
Prisoner,  "  by  the  powerful  breath  of  a  Black  Toad. 
At  first  I  was  not  at  all  badly  received.  I  was  able 
to  render  several  services  to  the  Wigs,  and  was 
especially  useful  to  them  in  building  their  walls  of 
gingerbread. 

"  Unfortunately,  however,  the  Chief  Contractor 
is  a  fool.  Without  his  idiotic  conceit  this  country 
would  be  happy  and  prosperous,  but  you  have 
undoubtedly  seen  for  yourself  what  a  ridiculous 
creature  he  is.  Only  to  give  you  one  instance,  I  will 
tell  you  what  happened  that  made  him  put  me  in 
this  prison  of  sugar-canes. 

"  One  day  some  feather-headed  person  or  other 
began  describing  a  bridge  to  him.  The  Chief  Con- 
tractor insisted  on  having  the  nature  of  a  bridge 
fully  explained  to  him,  and  next  day  he  caused  a 
canal  to  be  dug  right  across  the  middle  of  the 
country  ;  but  all  the  water  that  they  poured  into 
it  disappeared  at  once,  for  it  soaked  away  through  the 
soil  of  sugar  and  flour. 

"  However,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  was 
no  water  in  the  canal,  he  caused  the  bridge  of  nougat 
to  be  built  across  it ;  the  bridge  which  I  have 
destroyed  a  hundred  times  passing  over  it  in  my 
prison. 

"  It  was  forbidden  under  the  most  heavy  penalties 
to  cross  the  canal,  although  it  was  dry,  by  any  other 

156 


"  I  HAVE  DESTROYED  A  HUNDRED  TIMES  PASSING  OVER  IT  IN~MY  PRISON  " 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

means  than  by  way  of  the  bridge.    I  had  to  conform 
to  this  stupid  law,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  nougat 


>     '•    v£  -•»'--*  i'  ""  t-' -•••-••<"•-    *  ''••'-  VA  ,•'*••'->-••*.' 


"  I  WAS  CAUGHT  STEPPING  RIGHT  OVER  THEIR  SILLY  OLD  DRY  CANAL 
WITH  ONE  STRIDE  " 

cracked  beneath  my  feet  each  time  I  crossed  the 
bridge. 

"  However,  one  evening  I  was  caught  stepping 
right  over  their  silly  old  dry  canal  with  one  stride. 

158 


THE  MANUFACTURER  OF  CARDBOARD  BOXES 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  The  Despoiler's  rage,  although  he  hid  it  from 
me,  was  deep  and  terrible.  Doubtless  that  very 
evening  my  doom  was  agreed  upon,  for  the  next 
morning  when  I  awoke  I  was  surrounded  by  this 
barrier  of  sugar-canes,"  and  the  Prisoner  wrung  his 
hands  and  seemed  in  an  impotent  rage.  He  went 
on  jumping  up  and  down,  and  gesticulating,  for  his 
madness  had  caught  him  again. 

Once  more  he  began  to  break  the  sugar-canes  in 
his  frenzy. 

At  that  moment  Smaly  and  Redy  saw  the  De- 
spoiler  pass  by,  followed  by  the  Young  Stork,  carry- 
ing a  pair  of  nippers. 

They  were  on  their  way  to  a  secret  meeting  with 
the  Manufacturer  of  Cardboard  Boxes. 

The  Despoiler  seemed  to  be  literally  shaking 
with  anger.  The  Young  Stork  had  been  forced  to 
tell  him  that  he  stood  in  urgent  need  of  certain 
repairs  to  his  back,  and  the  Despoiler,  therefore, 
found  himself  in  the  humiliating  situation  of  having 
to  make  a  purchase  from  the  Manufacturer  of  Card- 
board Boxes. 

It  added  to  the  Despoiler's  vexation  to  have  been 
seen  by  the  two  little  humans.  He  stopped  and 
looked  at  the  sun,  of  which  only  a  small  piece  of  the 
rim  was  visible. 

The  Despoiler  turned  towards  the  Rats  and, 
pointing  to  the  cauldron,  called  out  angrily  : 

"  Take  that  and  run  with  it  to  the  frontier  and 
empty  it  out  there." 

And  thus  it  was  done. 
1 60 


THE  PICNIC  WHICH  FOLLOWED  WAS  AN 
UNFORGETTABLE  REPAST 

Page  177 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  three  daughters  of  the  Prisoner  are  installed  in  their  gardens. 

SO  Smaly  and  Redy  found  themselves  on  the 
frontier  of  the  Wigs'  country.  They  were  s6 
tired  from  having  seen  and  done  so  many  things 
during  the  day  that  hardly  had  they  arrived  than  they 
fell  sound  asleep  amid  the  myrtle-bushes  which  grew 
between  the  rocks. 

When  they  awoke  they  perceived  just  within  the 
frontier  (which  was  indicated  by  boundary  stones 
made  of  sugar-candy)  the  three  gardens  that  had 
been  prepared  for  the  daughters  of  the  Prisoner. 

"  The  Wigs  keep  their  word  anyway,"  said  Smaly 
and  Redy  to  each  other,  as  they  rubbed  their  eyes  ; 
then  they  looked  at  each  other  and  saw  that  their 
beaks  had  disappeared. 

You  may  imagine  how  happy  this  made  them  ! 
Never  would  they  have  dared  to  return  to  their  own 
village  with  those  enormous  beaks  stuck  in  the  middle 
of  their  faces,  even  though  they  were  invisible  to  all 
save  the  birds  and  each  other. 

They  stood  up  and  held  hands,  and  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Wigs  began  to  chant : 

We  wish  to  have  three  girls, 
Fine,  sweet,  pink,  and  good 


But  a  sentinel  who  looked  like  a  dragon-fly,  and 

L  161 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

carried  a  lantern  and  a  megaphone,  shouted  to  them 
to  be  silent. 

The  Confectioner,  who  was  busy  giving  the  final 
directions  to  the  gardeners,  struck  an  attitude  and 
recited  : 

"  Here  plays  the  grasshoppers'  band, 
Here  for  days  together  shines  the  sun, 
Here  the  birds  wear  hats  and  spurs, 
And  the  worms  spectacles  and  swords. 
Here  we  don't  know  bricks, 
Or  wood,  or  stone,  or  steel, 
Here  we  eat  plates  and  saucers, 
Here  we " 

"  We  know  all  about  that,"  said  Smaly  and  Redy 
together. 

"  What  do  you  know  ?  "  asked  the  Confectioner 
suspiciously. 

"  How  funny  you  all  are,"  answered  Smaly. 

"  At  least  we  are  not  made  of  grease  and  suet," 
retorted  the  Confectioner  in  a  tone  of  mingled  pride 
and  disgust. 

•  ••••• 

The  gardens  .were  arranged  after  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  the  windows  in  the  house  of  the  Historian. 
They  were  not  really  separated  by  walls  ;  but  since 
one  speaks  with  one's  mouth  and  sees  with  one's 
eyes,  there  was  at  about  the  height  where  the  young 
girls'  faces  would  be  a  plank  of  nougat  separating 
the  gardens,  and  since  it  was  certain  that  sometimes 
the  girls  would  sit  down,  there  was  another  plank 
a  little  lower. 

There  were  altogether  four  planks,  for  as  the 
162 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

three  girls  were  of  different  ages  and  heights,  the 
planks  which  would  have  prevented  one  girl  from 
seeing  her  neighbour  would  not  have  prevented  the 
next. 

How  ingenious  this  was  !  It  was  as  well  thought 
out  as  the  two  openings  for  the  Flying-Fish  in  the 
ceiling  of  the  Historian's 
house,  a  big  one  for  the 
big  fish,  and  a  smaller  one 
for  the  smaller  fish  ! 

In  these  gardens  the 
lawns  were  made  of  an- 
gelica, and  the  flower- 
beds of  jam  tarts,  and  at 
the  end  of  each  garden 
there  was  a  little  house 
to  sleep  in  at  night,  or 
in  the  heat  of  the  after- 
noon. 

When  all  was  ready 
the  three  daughters  of 
the  Prisoner  were  led  in. 
The  ceremony  was  ex- 
tremely simple.  Mistigris 
was  the  first  to  arrive, 
and  touching  his  lips  with 
his  ring,  he  thus  ad- 
dressed the  two  little  peo- 
ple perched  upon  their 


__ 

You  are  now  about 


A  SENTINEL  WHO  LOOKED  LIKE  A 
DRAGON-FLY 

163 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

to  see  the  three  girls  ;  but  whatever  you  do  don't 
forget  they  are  ignorant  of  the  history  of  their 
father,  our  prisoner.  They  were  sent  here  by 


THE  GARDENS  WERE  ARRANGED  AFTER  THE  SAME  PRINCIPLE  AS  THE 
WINDOWS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  HISTORIAN 

a  certain  Black  Toad,  the  same  creature  who 
blew  Djorak  into  our  country.  This  Toad  made 
out  that  it  was  doing  a  very  charitable  action,  and 
upon  a  label  round  the  neck  of  each  young  girl  he 
164 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

had  written  their  names  and  tastes.  On  the  first 
label  was  :  '  Number  I,  Kisika  Djorak.  Blue  eyes, 
amiable  disposition,  fond  of  marrowfat  peas  and  of 
getting  up  late.'  On  the  second  label  was  :  c  Number 
II,  Laptitza  Djorak.  Brown  eyes,  devoted  to  cherry 
tartlets  and  cheese  souffle.  Gazes  at  the  stars  and 
dreams  about  a  Prince  Charming.'  And  on  the  third 
label :  '  Number  III,  Fritilla  Djorak.  Green  eyes, 
adores  fruit,  particularly  tangerine  oranges  and  necta- 
rines. Dreams  as  much  as  Number  II  ;  but  has 
very  modern  notions  as  well.' 

When  Mistigris  had  finished  reading  out  the 
labels  a  large  sedan-chair  appeared,  carried  by 
several  Wigs,  among  them  Papylick  and  the  Young 
Stork.  The  door  of  the  chair  opened  and  Kisika 
stepped  into  the  first  garden. 

Kisika  certainly  had  beautiful  blue  eyes,  soft  hair, 
and  a  pink-and-white  skin.  She  was  so  beautiful 
that  one  would  have  taken  her  for  a  picture  rather 
than  for  a  real  girl. 


The  next  person  to  arrive  was  the  Despoiler,  who 
wished  to  make  sure  for  himself  that  the  planks  were 
at  the  right  height  before  he  permitted  Papylick  to 
approach  with  the  second  sedan-chair. 

The  young  girls  had  not  lived  in  these  chairs, 
they  were  simply  carried  from  place  to  place  in 
them. 

Kisika  had  lived  in  the  house  of  the  Crow. 

Laptitza,  who  was  now  brought  into  the  second 

165 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

garden,  had  lived  in  the  house  of  Papylick.  Lap- 
titza  also  was  very  beautiful,  with  a  pale  skin  and 
eyes  like  a  deer. 


A  LITTLE  RED  FEATHER,  WHICH  SHE  HAD  PICKED  UP  IN  THE 
MARKET-PLACE 

Every  one  now  awaited  the  arrival  of  Fritilla,  the 
third  daughter  ;  but  when  she  stepped  out  of  her 
sedan-chair  she  beckoned  to  the  Flying-Fish,  who 
166 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

had  been  pursuing  her  for  some  days  past,  and 
handed  it  a  little  red  feather,  which  she  had  picked 
up  in  the  market-place.  This  feather  was  of 
great  importance  to  the  Flying-Fish,  which  thanked 
Fritilla  many  times  and  swore  to  serve  her  always. 
Then  Fritilla  was  led  into  the  garden.  She  had 
yellow  hair  and  green  eyes,  and  her  beauty  seemed 
at  first  a  little  sad  and  cold  ;  but  on  looking  into  her 
eyes  you  saw  that  they  were  at  once  tender  and 

ardent. 

•  ••««• 

When  the  three  girls  were  installed  in  their 
gardens  of  angelica  and  jam  tarts  the  Wigs  arranged 
themselves  in  a  long  line.  Then  the  little  door  that 
led  into  Kisika's  garden  was  opened,  and  the  Chief 
Contractor,  placing  over  his  face  the  mask  called 
"  Stoic  Melancholy,"  approached  her  and  said  : 


Kisika,  farewell.  I  beg  you 
this  large  pot  of  Soy  in  memory 
There's  enough  to  last  you  all  your 

Next  the  Despoiler  approached, 
by  the  Young  Stork. 

"  Farewell,  Kisika,"  he 
said.  "  I  make  you  a  pre- 
sent of  this  ring,  which  will 
enable  your  voice  to  carry 
to  great  distances,  and  will 
also  stop  all  tiresome  and 
needless  voices  of  others." 

The  Confectioner  next 
came  forward  and  said, 


to  accept 
of    me . 
life." 
followed 


NEXT  THE  DESPOILER 

APPROACHED 


167 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

"  Farewell,  Kisika,  my  present  is  two  bamboo  spoons 
and  two  knives.  Be  happy  in  your  garden ;  it's  made 
of  the  best  confectionery." 

The  Crow,  putting  on  his  spectacles,  said,  "  Fare- 
well, Kisika,  I  beg  that  you  will  accept  these  spec- 
tacle-lenses in  memory  of  me.  They  are  made  of 
solid  ebony,  and  some  day  when  you  have  reflected 
enough  on  life  you  will  have  them  mounted  on  glass 
rims  and  will  always  put  them  on  before  you  speak. 
Farewell." 

The  Historian's  gift  consisted  of  six  hard-boiled 
eggs,  which  he  handed  to  Kisika,  saying,  "  Accept 
my  humble  offering,  Kisika.  These  eggs  are  home- 
made. Myself,  I  never  eat  anything  else." 

Mistigris  said,  "  Farewell,  Kisika,  take  this  little 
bow  and  arrow  made  of  fish-bones.  Perhaps  it  will 
amuse  you  to  play  with  them." 

And  the  Young  Stork  added  quickly,  "  Adieu, 
Kisika,  take  this  pair  of  pincers  to  pluck  from  your 
heart  the  darts  which  may  lodge  in  it." 

The  wife  of  the  Chief  Contractor  presented  Kisika 
with  a  beautiful  fan  made  of  paper  lace  ;  and  the 
Healer  gave  her  a  little  sugar  trumpet,  of  which  the 
mouthpiece  was  this  time  intact. 

The  Dwarf  with  the  big  head  gave  her  a  little 
watering-can  to  drink  out  of  during  the  summer. 

All  the  crews  of  the  marzipan  fleet,  and  the 
Rats,  came  in  their  turn  to  offer  each  a  little 
souvenir. 

Presently  there  was  such  an  immense  crowd  that  it 
seemed  as  though  the  ceremony  must  go  on  for  days, 
168 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

since  the  same  things 
had  to  be 
repeated 
three 
t  i  m  e  s  , 
once  be- 
fore each 
garden. 

Every  one  was  there. 

The  Grasshoppers. 

The  Birds  with  hats. 

The  Worms  with  specta- 
cles. 

The  Sponges  with  shining 
eyes. 

The  Pigs  from  the  great 
kitchen. 

The  Flying-Fish  and 
Lizards. 

The  Dancers  who  had 
played  at  tennis. 

The  Accordion-Players. 

In  the  end  it  would 

have  needed  pantechnicons  to  move  all  the  presents. 
When  the  ceremony  was  over  the  Wigs  departed  in 
a  long  procession,  singing  in  their  sweet  voices  : 

"jHere  plays  the  grasshoppers'  band, 
Here  for  days  together  shines  the  sun.  .  .  ." 


THE  WIFE  OF  THE  CHIEF  CONTRACTOR 

PRESENTED  KlSIKA  WITH  A  BEAUTIFUL 

FAN  MADE  OF  PAPER  LACE 


169 


CHAPTER  XV 

Smaly  and  Redy  effect  the  rescue  of  the  three  young  girls  : 
Djorak  joins  them  and  they  all  partake  of  a  delightful  picnic  : 
Smaly  blows  the  Soy  powder  over  the  country  of  the  Wigs  : 
Then  the  six  friends  go  home. 

SMALY  and  Redy  had  been  watching  with  all 
their  eyes,  and  they  observed  that  two  sen- 
tinels, instead  of  taking  their  departure  with 
the  crowd,  stayed  behind  to  guard  the  three 
sides  of  the  garden  which  were  in  the  country  of  the 
Wigs.  The  fourth  side  gave  upon  the  frontier  and 
was  marked  off  by  a  long  ridge  of  rock,  several  feet 
in  height.  It  was  from  this  rock  that  Smaly  and 
Redy  sat  looking  into  the  gardens.  They  could  have 
already  spoken  to  the  three  girls,  but  Smaly  advised 
that  they  should  wait  until  the  time  of  the  next 
siesta  had  arrived. 


From  their  rock  Smaly  and  Redy  could  see  quite 
clearly  the  roof  of  the  Historian's  house.  Directly 
they  saw  the  Flying-Fish  enter  to  announce  the  time 
for  siesta  Smaly  meant  to  speak  to  the  young  girls. 

"  Let  us  hang  our  red  flag  up  there,"  said  Redy 
to  Smaly,  pointing  to  an  old  tree. 

"  Are  you  managing  affairs  or  am  I  ?  "  demanded 
170 


DIRECTLY  THEY  SAW  THE  FLYING-FISH  ENTER 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

Smaly  severely.  "  Never- 
theless," he  added  more 
kindly,  "  I  will  consider 
any  advice  you  have  to 
give,  and  may  follow 
it  ...  if  it  is  good. 

Now  the  Flying-Fish 
began  to  fly  low  over  the 

THEIR  Two  LITTLE  HEADS  town,    and    two    of    them 

APPEARED  SIDE  BY  SIDE  entered  the  house  of  the 

Historian. 

The  whole  country  slept.  It  was  evident  that 
even  the  two  sentinels  slept  heavily. 

When  Smaly  and  Redy  were  sure  that  all  was  safe, 
they  crept  forward  to  the  edge  of  the  rock.  Their 
two  little  heads  appeared  side  by  side  before  the 
astonished  eyes  of  the  three  young  girls,  and  since 
their  beaks  had  disappeared  for  good  and  all,  the 
two  little  people  were  certain  they  would  make  a 
good  impression.  And,  indeed,  the  three  young 
girls  saw  at  once  that  these  were  the  heads  of  human 
beings,  real  human  beings,  not  creatures  made  of 
sugar  and  cake. 

When  they  heard  these  two  human  beings  speak, 
the  young  girls  were  seized  with  intense  emotion. 
Smaly  and  Redy  whispered  : 

"  We've  come  to  save  you." 

Kisika,  Laptitza,  and  Fritilla  held  up  their  arms 
towards  them,  while  the  tears  ran  down  their  cheeks 
for  joy.  They  all  began  to  speak  at  once  ;  but  Smaly 
172 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

and  Redy  each  placed  a  finger  on  their  lips  with  a 
mysterious  air,  to  command  silence. 

"  We  are  going  to  take  you  away  with  us," 
whispered  Redy. 

"  Silence,"  said  Smaly,  standing  on  the  point  of 
his  toes  to  appear  taller.  And  he  continued,  "  No  one 
must  speak  until  Kisika,  Laptitza,  and  Fritilla  have 
each  made  a  little  stairway  by  which  they  can  climb 
up  to  where  we  are." 

"  What  a  splendid  idea,"  cried  Redy. 

Smaly  took  no  notice  of  her  ;  but 
said,  with  an  air  of  great  importance, 
"  Let  the  young  girls  begin  at  once 
to  make  the  stairways." 


So  during  three  days  the  young 
girls  were  busy  making  the  stairs  by 
which  they  would  mount  to  freedom. 
During  the  siesta  on  the  third  day 
Smaly  and  Redy  made  trial  of  these 
stairs  and  found  them  perfectly  firm. 
It  was  then  that  Smaly  climbed  into 
the  dead  tree^which  Redy  had  pointed 
out  to  him,  and  tied  to  it  the  big  red 
handkerchief  which  was  to  be  the 
signal  to  Djorak. 

Smaly  and  Redy  were  both  of  them 
certain  that  Djorak  was  in  his  right 
mind  once  more,  for  during  the  three 
days  the  sugar-cane  prison  had  not 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

budged  ;  but  stayed  still  as  if  awaiting  their  signal, 
and  directly  the  red  flag  fluttered  in  the  breeze  Redy 
cried  out : 

"  Look,  look,  the  prison  is  coming." 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  said  Smaly,  as  though  he  had 
never  had  any  doubts. 

And  indeed  the  prison  was  rushing  furiously 
towards  them. 

Smaly  stayed  up  in  the  tree  to  watch,  but  Redy 
had  her  attention  distracted  by  the  Red  Flying-Fish, 
which  was  sitting  watching  her. 

Suddenly  the  fish  flew  away  ;  but  it  soon  re- 
appeared followed  by  a  great  flock  of  other  fish. 
Each  fish  carried  something  good,  tarts  or  cakes  or 
fruits.  The  Red  Flying-Fish  carried  a  large  hat 
and  mantle  in  its  claws.  The  fish  all  deposited  their 
offerings  at  the  feet  of  Redy,  and  from  his  tree  Smaly 
looked  on  with  great  pleasure. 


Towards  evening  the  forest  of  sugar-canes  came 
crashing  into  the  three  little  gardens.  Kisika,  Lap- 
titza,  and  Fritilla  ran  up  their  stairways  and  fell  into 
Redy's  arms  ;  but  Smaly  was  not  going  to  waste 
any  time  on  sentiment,  to  which  he  felt  he  could 
give  way  later.  He  ran  down  the  centre  staircase, 
seized  one  of  the  boxes  of  Soy  which  the  Chief 
Contractor  had  given  to  the  young  girls,  presented 
the  other  two  to  Djorak,  and  then,  without  waiting 
to  listen  to  the  Prisoner's  exclamations  of  joy,  bade 
him  follow  him. 


m^®m.  •;$& 


•H        ill 


So  DURING  THREE  DAYS  THE  YOUNG  GIRLS  WERE  BUSY  MAKING 
THE  STAIRS 


THE   CITY   CURIOUS 

He  sat  the  Prisoner  down  on  a  rock  and  drew 
out  of  his  pocket  a  pair  of  scissors  and  cut  his  wild 
and  streaming  hair,  and  then  proceeded  to  shave  his 


THE  RED  FLYING-FISH  CARRIED  A  LARGE  HAT  AND  MANTLE 
IN  ITS^CLAWS 

beard,  which  was  no  less  long.  Then  both  of  them, 
carrying  as  many  of  the  presents  as  they  could, 
joined  Redy  and  the  three  young  girls. 


THE   CITY  CURIOUS 

The  emotion  of  this  father  on  meeting  once  again 
his  three  daughters  was  a  very  moving  spectacle. 
Djorak,  who  had  such  a  good  memory,  could  not 
forget  that  he  had  been  beheaded,  and  that  without 
his  own  great  presence  of  mind  and  the  wise  counsels 
of  the  Brindled  Rabbit,  he  would  never  have  seen 
his  daughters  any  more. 


The  picnic  which  followed  was  an  unforgettable 
repast.  Djorak  looked  very  presentable  in  the  hat 
and  cloak  brought  by  the  grateful  Flying-Fish. 

In  the  first  place  every  one  was  filled  with  joy, 
and  in  the  second  the  three  young  girls  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  Wig  country  thoroughly  to  ap- 
preciate the  most  delicious  pastries  ever  made.  They 
soon  discovered  that  the  Soy 
powder  was  no  longer  of  any 
use  to  them,  for  its  magic 
properties  failed  once  it  was 
over  the  borders  of  the  Wig 
country,  in  the  same  way 
that  the  Wigs  themselves 
would  have  melted  away 
directly  they  passed  the  fron- 
tier. Therefore  the  six  happy 
people  seated  amidst  the 
fragrant  heather  and  myrtle 
began  to  ask  what  use  Smaly 
meant  to  make  of  the  three  Canma  u  jum  Of 
Dig  boxes  OI  Soy.  PRESENTS  AS  THEY  COULD 

M  177 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

"  Patience/'  was  all  Smaly  would  reply 
when  he  was  questioned,  and  they  had  to 
have  patience  until  the  evening,  when  a 
south-east  wind  sprang  up. 

Smaly  took  the  first  box  and  threw  the 
contents  into  the  air.  The  wind  took  the 
powder  and  blew  it  over  the  town  of  the 
Wigs ;  and  this  Smaly  did  with  the  other 
two  boxes  as  well. 

"  What  is  going  to  happen  next  ?  "  asked 
Redy. 

Smaly  pointed  to  some  clouds  which 
were  piling  up,  and  replied  senten- 
tiously,  "  Rain." 

And    indeed    the   rain   began   to 
fall.    The  Soy  powder  mingling  with 
WIGS   THEMSELVES   WOULD     the  water  had  a  magical   effect,  the 

TTAVP1  TV/IPT  TFTI  A\VAY  T^IUFOTTLY  /T*  1  f~^  i  i  ^^    t        ^  i         /* 

THEY  PASSED    THE   FRONTIER       «t   f  ™*      SmalY     &&      hoped      for  J 

the  whole  country  began  to  sprout, 
trees,  houses,  grass,  walls,  lawns,  everything  began 
to  grow  and  grow,  just  as  the  sugar-cane  prison 
had  done  when  the  Rats  watered  it  with  the  liquid 
from  the  reservoir  of  Soy. 


As  the  six  happy  friends  started  out  on  their 
journey  they  could  see,  by  looking  behind  them,  the 
houses  and  plants  growing  and  growing.  The  Wigs 
were  evidently  in  a  terrible  state  of  alarm.  They 
called  frantically  to  each  other,  they  hung  out  of 


THE  CITY  CURIOUS 

the  windows,  they  descended  by  long  ropes  into  the 
streets.  It  was  the  most  tremendous  day  in  the 
history  of  the  Wig  country  ;  but  there  were  no 
casualties,  and  when  the  Confectioner  had  built 
another  flight  to  their  staircases,  they  were  just  as 
happy  in  their  tall  houses  as  they  had 
been  when  they  lived  in  those  of  two 
stories.  It  was  a  little  more  tiring  for 
them  to  have  to  climb  so  high,  but  then 
what  a  splendid  view  they  had  into  each 
other's  attics  ! 

As  to  Smaly  and  Redy,  once  more 
returned  to  the  world  of  men  and 
women  like  ourselves,  they  installed 
Kisika,  Laptitza,  and  Fritilla  in  the 
three  little  bedrooms  prepared  for 
them  before  ever  the  quest  began. 

Djorak,  completely  cured  of  his 
madness,  slept  in  a  delightful  little 
pavilion  in  the  garden,  but  took  his  meals 
with  the  family. 

And  they  all  lived  happily  ever  after. 
I  myself  can  quite  well  remember  meet- 
ing them  last  spring,  taking  their  morning 
walk  in  the  park  of  their  town. 

And  what  a  charming  sight  they 
were  to  be  sure ! 

THEY  HUNG 

OUT  OF  THE 

THE  END  WINDOWS 


PRINTED  AT  THE  COMPLETE  PRESS 

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Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


RSC'PLD 


' 


REC'D  LD 


OCT251952 


REC'D  LD 


General  Library 

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